The Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment
by killerkaiser
Summary: A series of Bonnie/Damon one-shots ranging from back then, to now, and to their un-ending future...
1. Satisfaction

Okay so, the first in a series of totally random one-shots based around the absolute AWESOME pairing of Bonnie/Damon from the Vampire Diaries. These will probably be a combination of the inner-musings of our much-loved duo, and actual scenes of their developing relationship, as well as some set in the future too.

Enjoy xx Killerkaiser

**Disclaimer**: the only thing I own is whatever way I come up with to make fun of the disclaimer I have to write with each one-shot...

_Summary_: a little look into the twisted mind of one Damon Salvatore, regarding one Bonnie Bennett

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Damon Salvatore enjoyed enjoying himself.

Every twisted, inhumane act he had ever committed had been done for the fun of it.

A few decades ago, when he had sat down to consider this (which was a rarity in itself because Damon Salvatore seldom considered the consequences of his actions), he had deduced that it was probably because he has spent most of his life doing things for other people. Working to please a father for whom he wasn't good enough; working to be a brother to someone who would just as soon turn around and stab him in the back; working to win the affections of someone who frankly just didn't give a damn, being much more interested in aforementioned brother.

So when Damon discovered that making Stefan miserable gave him some sort of twisted satisfaction, some twisted form of _fun, _he went with his impulses (something he was well known for) and decided to enjoy a good feeling while it lasted. When he discovered that chasing after Elena Gilbert gave him some sort of thrill, it was just another way for him to try and gather some semblance of not total failure from both his living life, and his dead one.

In truth, Damon had long ago forgone the ability to really _feel _anything. Fun wasn't really fun, more just a shred of satisfaction in making someone more miserable than he was, which in turn made him seem more content. He took from other people before they could take from him, because when you were the one holding all the cards, no one else had anything left to fuck you over with.

So when Damon discovered that semi-stalking Bonnie Bennett made his veins hum, his eyes flash and his entire body sing with the thrill of the chase, he decided it was time to give Stefan a break and try out something (or _someone_) new.

To be honest, it wasn't really like the little witch helped herself anyway. Her first mistake was acknowledging that he was following her, because it meant he didn't have to hide and keep his thoughts to himself. At first she tried being pissed off with him, but everyone was pissed off with him, so the impact was somewhat lessened.

"You. Are. An. Ass."

"…Does that mean you've been looking at it?"

Next, she went to Elena and Stefan to complain about Damon being an ass, but since when had Damon ever listened to anything Stefan said? And Elena may have looked like Katherine, but after he had discovered that the bitch hadn't been in the tomb anyway, Elena's resemblance had lost some of its effect. Now she was just slightly annoying, and well on her way to earning her own large brooding forehead.

"Stay away from Bonnie, Damon."

"Okay."

"I mean it."

"Yeah, I got that."

"Damon…"

"Is this game over yet?"

There was a brief spell when Bonnie tried to avoid him, but no one could avoid Damon Salvatore, not when it wasn't by his choosing. Her attempts ended quite quickly after he took to appearing at her bedroom window each night, even if he couldn't get in.

"Oh come on, so you're not at all interested in why a hot bad-ass vamp like me has resorted to following you around?"

"Don't know, don't care, don't want you here. Leave."

The witch's next move made the situation worse for her, better for him: she started being a total bitch. Of course, Damon loved nothing better than a hot, powerful witch who was playing impossible-to-get. But Damon Salvatore was known for being a persistent bastard, and his patience was staggering when working towards a goal (as shown with his pursuit of Katherine, which had spanned over 145 years). So he kept it up with the nightly visits to her window, since she couldn't escape from him without leaving her room and alerting her father to the fact that something was up.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm a vampire, I need permission to enter."

"Well screw permission, get lost."

"You know, I think I figured out why I enjoy being around you so much. Never in all my many years did I think I'd ever meet someone half as mean as me, but you… you're a real bitch, you know that?"

"I dunno, I can be surprisingly nice to people who aren't trying to kill me or screw over my friends."

"You're not gonna let that biting thing go are you? Oh come on, it was one time, and it totally wasn't my fault. Extenuating circumstances and all that."

"…"

"Alright look, you can't say you're not in the least bit curious as to why I'm still here every night."

"You're here to piss me off and it's working, congratulations. Now leave."

So Damon was perfectly satisfied with his new toy, who wasn't as heartless as Katherine, but who wasn't as human as Elena. Especially when every time he was around her, the tingling taste of Bonnie's power grew more pronounced on his tongue, mixing with the already tantalizing memory of her blood (which sung to him in a way a mortal's blood could not), making him even more determined to continue with his game.

After all, it was just a bit of fun. Just a case of the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

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Hope you all liked it. If you did then review and tell me. If you didnt... well then I'd guess you'd probably review and tell me anyway. God, I feel really cliche putting in a pleading message at the end for reviews...


	2. Addiction

Okay, so here it is, the second one-shot (another Damon based one). Enjoy dudes xx

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing except the mental image of a shirtless Damon Salvatore...

_Summary_: Bonnie's fate is sealed with a kiss

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Damon Salvatore liked knowing he was in control.

Damon Salvatore liked to be the one who knew all the details, so that there could be no surprises in store.

What Damon Salvatore didn't know, was when it had suddenly become acceptable to kiss Bonnie Bennett.

Originally, following Bonnie around had been just a bit of fun, something to do between the hours of now and then. Especially since pissing off Bonnie, in turn, pissed of Elena, which then pissed off Stefan. So it was like a three-for-one deal.

So even Damon 'no-impulse-control' Salvatore had no idea why it suddenly seemed like a good idea to pin her against her front door and kiss her.

At first thought, it actually seemed like a perfectly reasonable thing to do. After all, this was Damon Salvatore in question here: he had a habit for chasing down hot women, even ones who hated him, because in his opinion that made it all the more exciting when he inevitably got his way (he would never admit that setting it up so that he was always right, always victorious, went a pitifully small way to building up the fractured remains of his self-esteem – then again, Damon thought the world of himself anyway, so maybe there was nothing to admit). Bonnie Bennett was simply a slight exception because witch's blood had a certain addictive quality to it that human blood didn't, much the same as using drugs, except without any of the harsh side-effects, and results that were a million times better.

But what was different this time was who it was he was chasing down. She was a witch, a young but albeit powerful witch, who became more fascinating every time Damon didn't have enough to do and went to pay her a very much unwanted visit. So when Damon kissed her on her porch, he realized it wasn't so much from a desire to piss her off (although that made it all the sweeter), but from a curious desire to see how _he _would react to it.

It could (and probably should) have finished right there. Damon could have accepted that he was getting in too deep, come up with some sort of bullshit about getting bored, and left the witch to her own devices, despite how intriguing her growing powers (over him?) may have been.

But, Bonnie sealed her fate when in response to his kiss, she sent a bolt of electricity through him that shocked him so strongly that he was thrown across her front yard. She passed the point of no return when she pinned him with an invisible force to the grass and set his jacket on fire.

Because at that very moment, Damon realized two things:

One – Bonnie Bennett was fast surpassing the stage where she would be stronger than Emily Bennett, and Damon could practically feel the unrestrained darkness seething just under the surface of her magical flesh.

Two – now that he had seen her reaction to him, he was addicted, mostly definitely past the point of walking away, because he was now fascinated with what she could possibly possess that would make her look so powerful, so unforgiving and so entirely like his very own goddess.

Chasing after a witch who could most definitely kill him (and indeed seemed to want to), would have seemed to most people a ridiculous thing to do. But everyone had already accepted that Damon's convoluted mind worked in strange ways. For example, going after someone who was smart enough to realize that she was just the third in an ever-growing line of obsessions that eventually passed, just as Katherine and Elena had done. Bonnie was smart enough to see Damon for who he was, and not harbor any fantasies that change was even possible for him; Elena was her best friend, but Bonnie thought she was foolish for the constant disillusion she had about Damon being more than what he was.

Damon didn't want to be more, he didn't want to change; people could blame his personality on Katherine all they wanted, but now that Damon loathed his vampire sire to hell, in his quest to rid himself of her every effect, he would have first rid himself of the persona that belonged to Katherine solely.

Bonnie was smart, (and maybe just as twisted as Damon) because she realized that Damon was the way he was not because he still wanted to worship Katherine – he kept up his sociopathic murderer image because it was yet another thing that bought him something that was a semblance to joy.

Bonnie Bennett understood this, which made Damon all the more interested in a witch who could figure him out and who didn't give a damn about trying to change him.

Now, what exactly Damon was going to do with Bonnie once he got her was another question entirely. But Damon was one to follow his instincts and whatever particular path appeared at his feet at the time, so in classic Damon-fashion, he decided to see how things played out.

Ignoring the part of him that was suggesting that this was going too far, that he was getting in too deep, and urging him to consider why he had never felt this same draw with Katherine or Elena, Damon set his sights on his prey, and embarked on the first challenge in his life that he wasn't sure he could win.

And for some reason that only made him more curious about the little witch, Damon didn't seem to mind the losing prospect all that much. He was more focused on the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

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There you go, Chapter 2 - hope you enjoyed. As I'm not going to resort to begging for reviews, I'm just going to let this sentence trail off, hoping people will get the hint...


	3. Perspective

Okay, so this one is based on a favorite scene of mine between Damon and Jeremy, when they are talking about Anna, while playing video games. Of course, it's much better if Bonnie is involved and she's the one throwing evil glares at Damon from the kitchen :D Enjoy - I know I did ;P

xx Killerkaiser

**Disclaimer**: the moment I own Vampire Diaries I'll be sure to let you know...

_Summary_: why exactly do Bonnie & Damon put up with each other

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Bonnie Bennett wasn't quite sure when Damon Salvatore had become an irreversible part of her life.

She trusted the unfairly gorgeous vampire as far as she could throw him – although maybe that wasn't the best way to put it, since with her telekinetic powers she could actually throw him pretty far.

What had started his ridiculous obsession with following her around she doubted even the spirits could fathom; all she knew was that he had decided that she was suddenly great fun, and Damon Salvatore loved nothing if not fun.

Of course, denying him was like trying to deny that gravity held you down to the ground – although again, since Bonnie had been experimenting with levitation, this was possibly not the best example to use either.

Whatever it was that she compared it to, Damon Salvatore now existed as a constant, albeit irritating presence in her life.

The first few weeks of him following her around had been stressful to say the least. Having a homicidal vampire stalking you to and from school, as well as 'accidentally' showing up whenever you were out in public, didn't do wonders for frown lines. However, luckily for Bonnie there were quite a few spells in her grandmother's grimoire to do with reducing signs of ageing, glamour – all of which suggested to Bonnie that witches that dealt vampires often had to endure this kind of trauma.

But having Damon catching her at lunch, by her car at the end of the day, appearing at her window at night was nothing compared to arriving at Elena's house on a Saturday night for dinner to find him sat on the couch next to Jeremy, while Elena and Stefan shot him dark glances from the kitchen.

Bonnie joined them, both in preparing the food and in shooting daggers in Damon's direction (daggers which she probably could've conjured and shot his way literally). Damon seemed perfectly aware of this but as always took it all with his trademark smirk.

This smirk was currently firmly in place as he sat next to Jeremy, a controller in his hand, his eyes fixed on the screen as he sensationally kicked Jeremy's ass at a game that he had never played before. In fact, Bonnie didn't think that Damon had ever played any kind of video game, play station or otherwise.

It didn't really help that Jeremy's attention wasn't completely focused on the game since he kept checking his phone, smiling and laughing slightly at the texts he was receiving. Unbeknownst to him, Damon kept stealing glances at the texts to see what Anna was saying.

Jeremy had been clued into the vampire deal right after he had gotten in deep with Anna, although Elena was adamant that she was in no way condoning even the slightest consideration of Jeremy turning. His argument was if Elena was going to make the change for Stefan, he could do it for Anna and there was nothing she could do to stop him. Stefan and Bonnie had had to step in to break that fight up, which Damon had watched with great enjoyment.

"So…" Damon said slowly, eyes fixed on the screen. "I take it things with your little vamp chick are going well?"

"You tell me," Jeremy asked, not taking his eyes off the screen either. "I mean, you have known her longer than I have."

That was the refreshing thing about Jeremy: he didn't seem scared of Damon either. Damon didn't really have a problem with it though, because despite past animosity, he didn't really mind Anna all that much, and at least Jeremy was perfectly willing to throw himself in deep with all the vampire stuff.

"You had a thing for a vampire while you were human didn't you?" Jeremy asked – while he had been filled in on the Katherine-situation, he didn't know about the sensitivity of the subject.

Damon's only response was silence.

"Does it ever get… you know…" He struggled for a way to put it. "Less weird?"

Damon's expression changed to one of smugness now. "Is it getting to you, _Jer_?"

Elena shot him a dark look, one which he ignored. He instead answered Jeremy's question in truth.

"Life with vampires is always weird. Especially a chick like Anna." He made a face. "Craaaaaaaaazzzyyyyy."

This earned him a series of dark looks from the trio in the kitchen. He amended of his own accord.

"But she's hot right?"

Jeremy snorted. "Well, yeah, obviously."

Damon shrugged. "Then problem solved. Hot trumps crazy any day. Trust me. I mean, look at Bonnie."

As if by some unseen silent command, both Bonnie and Elena's heads whipped around to glare at Damon. This didn't deter him.

"I mean, she's nuts. She's into all the weird voodoo magic stuff, which would creep most people out and she's completely unstable in temper and in mind, not to mention the stubbornness, and the attitude, and the fact that she won't back down on _anything_."

Bonnie glared at him, and Damon grinned without looking behind him, feeling her electric gaze.

"But," Damon continued in all seriousness, "She's one of the hottest girls you will ever meet, ergo, we put up with all her psychotic tendencies."

At this point Bonnie was fighting to ignore the comment about her being 'one of the hottest girls you will ever meet', and in typical Bonnie-fashion marched straight over to him. Coming up from behind she leant over the back of the sofa, putting her arms on his shoulders and her head next to his. He looked surprised (but not disappointed) at the close proximity.

"Just like we do with you then?" she said in a sweet voice that clearly showed her desire to beat him with his own spine.

Damon snorted. "Obviously. Why else would you put up with my sarcasm and cocky attitude if it wasn't for my great smile and even greater ass?"

Bonnie chose not to respond, simply pushed herself off him, shoving his head as she moved back into the kitchen with Elena and Stefan who were looking at her strangely. At the very least she was moving away from Damon, who had a _very _satisfied look on his face.

It wasn't until later, looking back on this evening, that she realized that without being aware of it, she had moved past the point of being annoyed and angry about his constant presence and had somehow just accepted it as a part of her life. She had apparently gotten so comfortable with it that she had now taken to indulging Damon with all his teasing and even, though she could scarcely believe it, flirting back.

This of course was dangerous, because this was Damon Salvatore she was talking about, and anybody who knew Damon Salvatore didn't need anymore explanation than that.

However, in a very un-Bonnie-like decision, for the minute, Bonnie resolved to not over-analyze it. To not worry about where this could be heading, what he may do to her or what she may have to do to him, and simply revel in the fact that she had actually spent an evening with Damon Salvatore that had not ended in spontaneous combustion.

She decided that for now, she would simply accept it for whatever it was (not that she had any idea), and take this unusual situation as a chance to practice the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

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Season 2 is starting today (cue screams). This will no doubt inspire me to write more, but any one with ideas and reviews... you know how it works XD


	4. Balance

And here we go, another one-shot. The first meeting between Bonnie Bennett & Damon Salvatore and one of my personal faves so far. Hope you all enjoy XD

Killerkaiser xx

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Vampire Diaries but if I did, I have two sure fire ways their ratings would go up even further: Bonnie & Damon would get together, and the boys would be forced to do each episode shirtless ;) (and possibly wet for the specials!)...

_Summary_: a look at the first meeting of Bonnie & Damon

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As the Fates would have it, it appeared that any relationship between Bonnie Bennett and Damon Salvatore was doomed from the start – their first meeting was nothing more than a screaming testament to this.

When Damon had overheard the Salvatore Boarding House's two resident lovebirds discussing Elena's best friend Bonnie's revelation as a witch, his interest had been immediately ensnared. Stefan was well aware of Damon's fondness for witches (why the conversation was being held a floor above him in hushed tones), but then, Damon didn't really think he could be blamed: not only was witch's blood purely addictive, but their powers often made them strong, cocky and not afraid to beat him around a bit – witches, in short, were fun.

So naturally, the moment Damon heard there was one in Mystic Falls, a descendant of the Bennett line no less… well, he was just being begged to look into it.

Especially since this Bonnie person was a best friend of Elena's, and therefore off-limits, making the allure all the stronger.

So the next morning, once he was sure Stefan had skipped off to class and Elena and her friend were grabbing their stuff for a free period, Damon made his way casually into the school hallway. There were still enough people hanging around so that he couldn't do anything he considered fun, but at least Elena and Stefan wouldn't overreact (he knew his dear brother would sense his arrival) since it wasn't like he could get up to anything.

His first taste of the witch was literally that – her taste. He could smell her blood so thickly he was surprised his eyes weren't turning black. What surprised him more, however, was the _amount_ of raw power brimming under the surface of her human body (and what a body it was). That of course was the second thing that caught his attention.

The third thing: the look the she gave him.

Elena and Stefan had obviously filled her in on Damon and his past exploits, because the look she gave him was colder than anything Elena and Stefan had ever tried, and those two he actually _had _done things to upset. Bonnie however, gave him a look that was cool, cutting, harsh and in all honesty, displayed a surprising amount of loathing for someone she had never actually met.

Two things occurred to him in that moment, one of which was that Bonnie was most definitely a loyal friend, through and through, to show so much contempt for a total stranger – apparently in her world, hurting her friends was unforgivable. The other thing was that even when he met people that hated him right from the start, there was always that minute flash of lust and shock in their eyes when they saw how mesmerizing a package pure evil could be. Damon may have been a bastard to all ends of the earth, but even his worst enemies couldn't resist the effects of his entire, sex-god being.

But when his piercing blue eyes met Bonnie's wild green ones, there was no attraction, no recognition of his looks or hypnotic energy. There was no flash of the longing and lust he had long grown accustomed to. Bonnie Bennett, it seemed, was completely immune to him.

And that reaction was the first step towards their future.

Bonnie was actually the first to notice him, her powers already strong enough to sense the presence of another deadly creature. Her eyes flashed over to his, and after a second or so, Elena realized that Bonnie wasn't paying attention to her, and turned to see what was happening. Her face fell the moment she saw Damon and her voice when she spoke was as hostile and unforgiving as sweet Elena Gilbert could manage.

"Damon."

"Morning ladies," was Damon's casual reply, tipping an imaginary hat their way.

"What the hell are you doing here, Damon?"

Sensing that Elena was not in the mood to play his games, Damon spoke in all seriousness.

"I've come here to kill you and drain your blood in a very graphic, public display."

In truth he probably should have seen that that wouldn't improve the situation. "Please," he snorted, a familiar mocking edge to his voice. "I've been around a while, I'm not gonna be stupid enough to attack you in broad daylight."

"And yet you're stupid enough to turn up at our school anyway."

Intriguingly, Bonnie's voice sung of the same hidden power that seethed through her veins, edged with a cynicism and hostility that brought a smirk back to his lips.

"Ah, so you must be the little witch."

Her expression was cool, unconcerned, as if she wasn't openly facing down a sociopathic vampire. "Can I help you?"

"Oh I'm sure you could," Damon grinned at her suggestively, finding her surprisingly easy and enjoyable to flirt with.

"But," he said, reluctantly glancing away from her face and clapping his hands together, "I'm here on business, not…" He gave another suggestive pause, eyes flicking towards Bonnie. "…other things."

To his surprise she didn't look away from him or make any sounds of contempt. She simply kept her gaze determinedly fixed on his. Reluctantly, he drew his own eyes away to say, "I'm looking for my brother."

Of course, Damon knew exactly where Stefan was.

It was Bonnie though who answered, before Elena could. "Well, he's obviously not here… or are you blind as well as stupid?"

The blatant insult in her voice made Elena give a shocked gasp and whisper desperately "Bonnie!"

Damon however, was loving it. "I like her," he said cheerfully to Elena. "She's mean."

Elena chose not to answer that, and simply asked tiredly "What do you want Damon?"

"Her," was his immediate reply. When Bonnie still wouldn't take that judging look off her face, and he heard Elena make an irritated sound, he finally admitted to saying "No, in all seriousness, I do need to speak to my brother. You know where he is?"

Elena of course would not want to bother Stefan with something as trivial as his brother being an ass (after all, what was new?), so she remained silent. This only prompted Damon further.

"No? Shame." He shrugged, not feeling shameful at all. "Oh well," he said cheerfully, looking to Bonnie again. "At least that leaves us with some quality time to spend together."

For some reason, Damon found himself incapable of talking to her without making every sentence sound suggestive.

He was rewarded when Bonnie, instead of opting for sensible silence as Elena did, met his challenge by asking coldly "Is there anything else we can do for you? _Before_ you leave?"

Damon didn't even feel guilty about his next words, because she had put herself in this position. "Oh I'm sure there are lots of things you could do for me."

What he didn't expect was the blatant fury he could see brewing behind her hypnotizing eyes.

"Hmm, well, I could start by ripping your head off." Elena actually had to grab a hold of her shoulder.

"Oh, I like her," Damon reiterated, even more sure of it now. "I like her _a_ _lot_.

Elena had obviously decided (for Damon's own safety no doubt) that this game was finished.

"Leave Damon. Now."

"Alright, alright," he conceded, deciding this was a nice place for his little encounter with the witch to end. "I can see where I'm not wanted. Story of my life. But if you see my brother, send him my way will you?"

Of course, there was no way Damon was missing out on the opportunity given. "Or you know," he said, eyeing Bonnie suggestively again. "Send her…. Maybe just her."

He was inwardly congratulating himself on the sly wink he gave the witch that caused Elena to have to grab a hold of her friend's arm and visibly restrain her.

Bonnie still wouldn't back down though, and fought to get at him. "Okay come on, just let me…!"

Elena put all her strength into holding Bonnie back, as Damon watched with great enjoyment. "No Bonnie!" Elena said firmly, probably more for Damon's benefit that Bonnie's. Damon said no more, simply grinned, gave them a mock salute, and strolled away.

That first meeting was the spark to what would soon become the all-consuming fire of their connection.

Damon had never met someone who had so visibly hated him from the kick-off, and he couldn't really explain why it excited him so much. Not only that, but the witch had a surprisingly cold attitude for someone as fiery as her.

She had to be both powerful and gutsy to try and physically attack him in the school hallway, and that just served to intrigue him even more. He could tell right from the start that pissing off Bonnie would soon become his favorite past-time. All he had to do was spend some time around her and that loathing would become annoyance, the annoyance irritation, the irritation exasperation, the exasperation an easy combination of flirtation and relaxed teasing.

At least that was what he hoped, because he had a feeling that Bonnie was going to be the rarity that never did quite what he expected. In truth, he was already surprised by how much of himself he saw in her.

For Bonnie Bennett was an inhuman paradox, wrapped inside a delectable looking shell… or armor, depending how you looked at.

She was kind, loyal, caring and fiercely protective towards those who were important to her. But she was also of two worlds, one of which where she was dark, unrestrained and wild as the nature that her powers were borne from.

Damon may have long ago given up on being kind and caring (although he would later find that maybe he still had that capacity); he may have been only loyal to himself (again, that in time would change); but when he found something to protect, something to possess, he was just as fiercely protective as Bonnie was. More than that, he saw reflected in her the same capacity for darkness, destruction and cruelty he himself possessed in the unrestrained power of her witchy abilities.

However, Bonnie possessed something Damon did not (at least not yet): balance.

She had the ability to throw away her humanity, exist as a being of power, and yet, not give in to the monster she could become. She transformed the monster into a second-skin, an image of immortality, strength, beauty, an unparalleled combination of all that was deadly and desirable. In the future, she would wield the same capacity for cruelty and ruthlessness as Damon did, and after she embraced vampirism, she may have become as Damon was, separated from all of those beneath her.

But she finally chose to embrace the power of the witch and the monster of the vampire, both the good and the bad, and after a time, Damon was able to do the same.

He discovered the same thrill in a life where he wasn't hated by everyone. Of course, he never changed: he fed on humans, took unfair pleasure in tormenting his brother and annoying his brother's girlfriend, even after she became one of them. But he could be sarcastic and dirty, flirtatious and sinister, without being a monster. Damon could be as much as an ass as he was now, and Bonnie could be just as much of a bitch to him, but they could do so without existing soulless, lost, monsters by choice.

Of course all of this was a way off yet. Right now, it was just about the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

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And there it is, my dream initial meeting between Damon & Bonnie. Dreaming. About Damon. Shirtless. Getting people to review...


	5. Disguise

And here is yet another chapter, the first half of a two-part piece. I am now half way through the one-shots I have already written for my story, and with all my IB stuff going on, inspiration and time to finish more one-shots is lacking. No worries though, I have at least five chapters in the plans, although whether I ever get round to actually writing them I'm not sure. Ah well, I'll just have to hope inspiration hits me.

xx Killerkaiser

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Vampire Diaries but I'm expecting the call any day now...

_Summary_: Bonnie & Damon spend some time at the Founder's Parade

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Damon had to admit, Elena's likeness to Katherine at this very moment in time was honestly creeping him out. If it hadn't been for the fact that he was at the Founder's Day Parade and that Elena was a member of that Caroline person's court, and that he himself was dressed in his own Confederate Army uniform (in the interest of blending, as he had been ordered) Damon would have sworn that he had stepped out onto the streets of 1864.

However, his shock at seeing Elena (or should he be calling her Katherine?) was quickly extinguished because Stefan immediately decided that it had been too long since he had given Damon a lecture about something – Damon guessed the half-hour one yesterday (which he of course hadn't been paying the _slightest _bit of attention to) didn't count.

When catching the way the Salvatore brothers had been staring at her, Elena had excused herself rather hurriedly, agreeing to meet Stefan before the parade started. She didn't realize that Damon's staring wasn't a case of his obsession with her coming back to light (he had gotten over that after he realized that A – Elena was actually quite irritating and B – Katherine was a heinous bitch who should burn in hell), but more due to the fact that it seemed strange to him that even though he was over Elena, his reaction to her was entirely non-existent.

This seemed odd to him, because regardless of everything that had happened, he still would have expected some sort of reaction to seeing Elena and Katherine appearing in the same person right before him. And yet… nothing.

Surprise, sure, at this brief moment of time-travel, but there was no longing, no lust, no… anything.

Of course, Damon was never given the chance to think upon this further, or reveal this to Stefan, because said brother was already going off at him about the fact that Elena may look like Katherine at that point, but that didn't mean she was, and that he didn't want any funny stuff happening.

Considering everything Damon did could be found amusing, Stefan was once again expecting too much, and in all honesty, Damon didn't feel too guilty about not listening, since the lecture was pointless anyway, and only more repetition of stuff he already knew, and already didn't care about.

"I mean it Damon," Stefan said in all seriousness – although then again, when wasn't Stefan being serious? "No games."

Deciding he had been bored of this before it had even started, Damon allowed his attention to drift, but not before picking up on something that actually did interest him: he felt a faint hum in the air, and an electric pressure began to pick up around him. While Stefan continued with whatever it was he was saying, Damon turned curiously to look out at the crowd of people. The source of the energy buzz wasn't difficult to locate, because Damon seemed to be drawn to it nowadays, whether he wanted to ignore it or not.

Then again, Damon Salvatore rarely denied himself anything, so this didn't cause him any problems.

He couldn't help the upward tilt to his lips as Bonnie Bennett came into view, dressed in the same 1864 style as Elena, and yet somehow looking infinitely better.

Her hair had been swept up in a look that was utterly elegant but with that definite wild, messy edge that seemed to define Bonnie. She hadn't bothered to try and look as glamorous as Elena had, simply choosing something simpler, less ostentatious, but looking at her now, Damon realized that Bonnie Bennett was unfairly stunning in anything she wore.

Much like himself, he thought with a satisfied smirk.

The top half of Bonnie's dress was off-the-shoulder white lace. She wore a brown bodice which not only showed off her to-kill-for figure but also (owing to the fact that it fit just perfectly under her breasts) made an example of all her best features. As she walked he caught a glimpse of the many crisscrossing ties over her back that bound the bodice to her, and found himself wondering how long it would take to get them all undone. The skirt of the dress was a lighter brown than the bodice, light and flowing with every step that bought her closer to him.

What tied it all off though was the smirk she wore on her lips, because it seemed that his little witch was now able to sense his presence just as acutely as he was able to sense hers.

Their eyes locked, as had become common practice these days between them, and she gave him a mocking curtsey that made him grin. Deciding there were other people he would _much _rather be spending his time with, Damon turned sharply to his brother, cutting him off mid-sentence.

"No need to worry about anything Stefan," Damon said, giving him definite cause to worry. Damon clapped Stefan on the shoulder, still looking at Bonnie. "Elena's many layers of clothing shall not be disturbed by me."

Stefan rightly looked immediately suspicious as Damon turned and made his way in Bonnie's direction with a quiet "I've got a new toy to play with."

Stefan did not pursue him however, because it had recently become clear that nothing was going to keep Bonnie and Damon away from each other: they enjoyed their flirtatious teasing too much, and Bonnie was more than capable of looking after herself where Damon was concerned. Somehow, Damon still hadn't managed to get Bonnie falling all over him, and Stefan was fast suspecting that even if things between the two got more serious, that would never happen regardless.

Besides, not that Stefan would make this known, but the Bennett witch scared him somewhat, and he therefore (quite sensibly) decided to leave her to his brother.

When Damon appeared in front of her with his own mocking bow, Bonnie arched an eyebrow and appraised him critically, before finally commenting "A soldier?"

Damon gave her his trademark smirk. "You sound surprised."

"Well," Bonnie said with a casual smirk of her own, seeming far too at ease in the company of a homicidal vampire "Soldiers are normally selfless. They sacrifice their own lives for the lives of others, put their country first, fight for what they love even when running makes more sense." Her smile turned mocking. "Doesn't really seem like your thing."

"Oh, that hurts," Damon said dramatically, clutching his chest. "You are a cruel, cruel woman Bonnie Bennett."

She laughed, and said in what could only be described as a flirtatious tone "I have to be to hang out with you Damon Salvatore."

Damon both loved and hated how much he liked the sound of that sentence coming from her lips.

"So…" Bonnie said after a moment, the grin on her face suggesting she was about to try and mess with him. "You seen Elena?"

"Don't mock me," Damon said, unable to hide the humor in his voice. "I'm the one who mocks."

Bonnie simply laughed at him and he decided to switch tactics. He lowered his voice, allowing his tone to become more suggestive. "To be honest, you're the only one here that I have my eyes on."

Bonnie wasn't caught out by this and replied with missing a beat. "On what's behind me more like."

Damon grinned, reveling in how easy it was to talk to someone who actually spoke the same language that he did. "Well, can you blame me?"

Before Bonnie could respond with what would undoubtedly be another comeback, most likely a "Yes" (for the two of them could go on like this for hours) someone called her name. She checked behind her and then looked back to Damon who said "I take it that's your cue."

"Yep."

Then it occurred to Damon, that he didn't actually know what she was doing here. "You never did tell me what you're here for," he asked curiously.

"You didn't ask," Bonnie said coyly in a tone that made him grin even more. "Besides," she said as she moved away. "That's for me to know and you to… dot dot dot."

Deciding he liked how his words sounded coming from Bonnie he grinned, laughed and said confidently "What makes you think I'm gonna be hanging around?"

Bonnie gave a low chuckle. "'Cause you're following me, remember?"

"Well in that case…" Damon said slowly, and she looked at him suspiciously as he offered her his hand.

"What's this?" she asked with amused albeit warranted skepticism.

"A way to piss off my brother and Elena."

Checking over his shoulder, she saw that Elena had once again joined Stefan, and the two were shooting furtive glances in their direction. She turned back to Damon.

"You know that I shouldn't," she said doubtfully, but Damon could see the glint in her eyes.

"But I know that you want to," he said confidently.

Bonnie sighed and allowed a smile to grace her lips. "And you know that I will."

"Because you're more like me than you wanna admit," he finished for her with a smirk.

Feigning reluctance, Bonnie allowed him to take her hand and curtseyed to him as his lips brushed her knuckles. With one final coy smile, she turned and walked away as Damon watched her go, grinning at the smirk she sent him over her shoulder.

As Damon slowly turned and walked away, still grinning lazily, he briefly considered how refreshing it was to find someone else who was just as well versed as he was in the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

* * *

And there we go. As earlier noted, inspiration is lacking, so if anyone wants to send reviews to help things along, feel free. Not that I'm pushing for reviews or anything.


	6. Appearance

Okay, so this one is sort of a companion piece to the previous chapter, just following on from the events at the parade. I quite like this one just 'cause we get Damon still being Damon but having some fun anyway, and Bonnie just being the way I totally think Bonnie should act around him. I love the tv series, don't get me wrong, but the feud between Bonnie and Damon only works if there is some serious sexual tension, instead of just hate. But hey, hopefully that'll change soon. Anyway, here's another one for you all to enjoy.

Killerkaiser xx

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Vampire Diaries but... well, you all know what this is gonna say anyway, so why go on to explain it?

_Summary_: Damon catches Bonnie after the Parade

* * *

It was relatively easy to track Bonnie down after the parade, since he was quickly becoming more attuned to her scent and energy than he was to anyone else's. The Gods must have been smiling down on him that day (even though it wasn't like he deserved it) because when he reached the tent that Bonnie was in, she was just about to get changed. He leant casually against the tent frame, trademark smirk already on his lips.

"Need a hand taking that off?"

Bonnie replied with turning. "Not from you Damon."

He grinned at the idea that she was just as attuned to him as he was to her, and pushed himself off the tent pole with a pitifully hurt (not to mention mocking) "Aw, you don't trust me?"

Bonnie laughed, answering the question without needing words, but still for his benefit turned and said with a raised eyebrow "I don't trust you not to just rip the whole thing off."

She moved across the room to a bench at one side and took a seat as Damon stepped forward. "Hey, in my experience it's the quickest and most… effective, way."

Bonnie didn't answer, simply raised her other eyebrow with a smile that said she completely understood every implication in that sentence.

Damon, completely ignoring the concept of personal space (over-rated in his opinion) came to stand over her, arms folded. She leant back on her palms and looked up at him carelessly, not put off in the least.

He leant down towards her slightly, his own eyebrows arching upwards. "Are you sure you don't need my help taking that off?"

"I'm sure," Bonnie laughed. "But…" she said slowly after a moment's consideration. Damon took great pleasure in the thrill he got from the way she was looking at him as she said deceptively "If you _really _want, you can help me take off these shoes."

Grinning, she held her leg out, revealing the shoe in question, which was fastened on with about five buttons on each side (the 1800's style may have _looked_ good, but that didn't mean it was practical).

Damon, never one to be able to resist helping out someone in need (as long as she was a certain young witch by the name of Bonnie Bennett), took a hold of her leg, grinning and met her gaze doing what could only be described as 'the eye thing'.

Of course, offering herself up to Damon Salvatore in this way could only be described as stupidly dangerous, but this seemed to be becoming increasing Bonnie-like behavior at the moment.

Damon didn't mind in the least.

Returning her smirk, Damon asked in a falsely innocent voice (which completely contradicted the movement of his hand up her calf) "If I do that well, can I be promoted to tights?" His hand began to creep up under her dress, which Bonnie simply responded to by snorting, pulling her leg back and making to stand.

Damon however, was a tricky bugger and didn't let go of her ankle, so as she stood, she was pulled up against him, her leg hitched up around his hip. Very pleased with himself, he was quite surprised when instead of setting him on fire as he had expected, she laughed and slid her arms down his shoulder to push his jacket out of the way.

"Hmm, maybe," Bonnie said slowly, her attention focused on pushing the jacket back from his shoulders. "On one condition."

A very surprised but rapidly cheerful Damon asked "And what's that?"

She grinned, pulling him closer, and it took all of Damon's self-control to not just throw the game out the proverbial window and rip her dress off right there and then.

He was pretty sure that his eyes rolled into the back of his head when Bonnie leaned in, her breath caressing his ear and whispered in what was quite possibly the sexiest tone he had ever heard "That you can catch me."

Now, Damon Salvatore was well-known for always being three steps ahead of the rest of the world, so the fact that the little witch caught him out on this occasion was a novelty in itself. But the fact that he stood dumbstruck as she yanked his jacket down, trapping his arms inside and took off across the room, was simply a testament to the fact that Damon may have finally met his supposedly non-existent match.

She ran away laughing, and the sound falling from her lips was enough to stun him back to his severely strange reality. Gathering what shredded remains of his image he could, he ripped himself free from the jacket and sped across the room at vampire speed, determined to make her pay.

But Bonnie one-upped him again when she sensed him coming and was able vanish from his outstretched arms, reappearing a few feet away. He whirled around, mouth open, eyes questioning since Emily was the only other witch he'd met that had ever managed materialization. Bonnie however only answered him with a challenging smirk and raised eyebrows, and Damon decided this was suddenly going to be much more fun.

Damon swooped in again at vampire speed, but she was one step ahead of him and danced away.

But Damon was known for being able to make any situation work in his favor, so the next time Bonnie vanished, he had already turned so that when she re-materialized, she was trapped in his arms. Laughing victoriously he lifted her petite form from the ground and swung her round; Bonnie gave a very girlish squeal, and Damon grinned at how much he liked the sound of it.

It was only as her feet brushed the floor again, that the two noticed the figure in the doorway. Elena stood there, mouth open, looking shocked, then furious.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Damon reluctantly released Bonnie from his arms, while she fought to control her laughter. It was Damon who (probably unwisely) spoke first.

"I'm uh… helping her get changed."

He couldn't help but laugh at the end of that sentence, and Bonnie responded by elbowing him in the gut, all the while trying not to laugh herself.

"Bonnie!" Elena said sharply, looking for some semblance of normalcy from her friend.

"No, that's about right," Bonnie admitted guiltily, not granting Elena's wish.

Elena was silent for a moment, before turning her glare on Damon.

"Can I have a word with you?" she asked stiffly.

"That's more than one word," both Bonnie and Damon said at exactly the same time; naturally, neither of them thought before they spoke.

They exchanged a glance as Elena went from upset to pissed off. "Now!" she snapped at Damon.

Exchanging one more glance with Bonnie (who was trying to hide her smile and not looking guilty at all) Damon obediently followed Elena outside of the tent.

What happened after that Damon wasn't quite sure because he left his thoughts in the tent with Bonnie. Employing the same technique he so often did with Stefan (who Elena seemed to be taking lessons from), he allowed her to go on and on at him, while he was focused on something completely different.

Bonnie Bennett was fast becoming his favorite person to spend time with, and it was surprising that now, instead of wanting to upset her for his amusement, he was actually finding it genuinely fun to simply tease and flirt and be… well, himself.

Not that that was _that _surprising, since he was pretty awesome.

But Bonnie was unlike anyone he had ever met, and something about her thrilled him more and more every time he saw her.

It was undeniable: Bonnie Bennett had a way of taking him up, down, left, right, sideways and crossways, through the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

* * *

And there we have it again. You know what they say about reviews... hint hint, nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more.


	7. Challenge

My seventh one-shot. I noticed that a lot of people liked the last one with Bonnie and Damon having a bit of fun until Elena came in. BUZZKILL! But don't worry Damon and Bonnie are gonna make their escape in this one before Elena can cramp their style XD Enjoy it as much as Bonnie and Damon would ;)

Killerkaiser xx

**Disclaimer**: If I owned The Vampire Diaries Bonnie and Damon would already be together and we wouldn't be having this conversation...

_Summary_: Damon gets a look at a new side of Bonnie Bennett

* * *

When Damon heard through the proverbial grape vine that was his brother's girlfriend that Bonnie Bennett had gotten herself suspended, his first thought was that this was a part of some elaborate ploy of Stefan's to get back at him; there was no way in this world or the next that _Bonnie Bennett _would get herself suspended.

Then of course, Damon remembered that elaborate ploys were his thing, not Stefan's and that his brother lacked the skills it took to create complex plans of revenge.

So by the time Bonnie had stormed from the Principal's office, snatched up the rest of her books and marched outside, she was able to find Damon already there, leaning casually behind the door.

"You got yourself _suspended_?" Damon asked incredulously, unable to hide the delighted grin that spread over his face as he fell into step behind her.

For some reason Damon couldn't possibly begin to fathom, Bonnie didn't seem to want to reply, if the determinedly violent pace she was setting was any indication. She stormed across the parking lot, fuming inside her own head, and Damon realized she may have not registered his appearance.

This upset him, because _everybody _took notice of Damon Salvatore.

He took this opportunity to leap in front of Bonnie, stopping her as she almost crashed into his chest. He grinned at her, opening his arms out wide.

"Can I give you a congratulatory hug?"

The look she gave him quickly sent any prospects of hugs out the window. Still, she didn't move away again, simply sighed and regarded him wearily.

Deciding he didn't like his witch when she wasn't all fired up, Damon laughed. "Oh come on," he said cheerfully. "This is something to be proud of! I didn't think you had it in you Bennett but suspension… I'm impressed."

"Yeah, well," she said glumly. "You're about the only one."

Remembering how much trouble suspension actually was nowadays, Damon snorted. "Ah, who cares?" he asked with a grin. "Bonnie Bennett going bad-ass… much more interesting, screw everyone else."

It seemed that Damon had succeeded because Bonnie actually smiled slightly, a familiar spark returning to her eyes.

"Don't get all up yourself Damon, you had nothing to do with this."

This caused Damon to roll his eyes and laugh mockingly, closing the distance between them.

"Sure, sure," was his flippant response, as he put his arms around her waist and pulled her against him. "Because you were soooooo on the edge before you met me."

Instead of extricating herself, Bonnie shook her hair back from her face and looked up at him before saying in her own mocking voice "Of course, because _you_ were the one who made me throw a table through the window… with some telekinetic help."

Damon almost had a fit at that before managing to choke out "_That's _what you did?"

Bonnie grinned and laughed, finally finding her temporary high in the fact that she had been suspended, and was now standing in the parking lot in the arms of Damon Salvatore, where she could sense the eyes of her whole class on her through the now trashed window.

She shrugged modestly. "After I yelled at the teacher and told him to fuck himself 'cause no one else was ever gonna do it."

Damon burst out into actual loud laughter at that point, and Bonnie couldn't help but join in. Finally, after his laughter had subsided, he leaned in close to her and dropping his voice said "You have no idea how hot you're getting me right now."

At this Bonnie laughed again and wove her way out of his embrace. Starting again across the parking lot she threw a casual "Oh sure, 'cause that's what I live for," over her shoulder at him. "I mean," she turned, walking backwards and went into a mocking bow for his benefit "what would my life be without the attention of Damon Salvatore?"

"Well," Damon said easily, strolling lazily towards her, "I'm not sure how you would find it, but…" He circled around behind her, Bonnie following his movement with a mocking smile. "You're friends all seem to have their own idea."

Following his gaze, Bonnie saw that everyone in her class was watching her from the window, and one outraged face stood out among the rest. Instead of averting her eyes and feeling guilty as she once would have done, Bonnie met Elena's expression with a sardonic wave and laughter.

This seemed to have some sort of peculiar effect on Damon, because in the next second he had grabbed Bonnie's wrist roughly and pulled her around to face him, slamming her against the nearest car, trapping her. One hand went to her neck and face, while the other took a hold of her hip, slipping around to the belt loops on her black skinny jeans.

"You know what would really show them," Damon commented, his voice low and sultry. Bonnie only gave him a sexy, curious smile as he leaned to her ear and said "If you kissed me."

Now, Damon had envisioned many responses to this (all of which ended very enjoyably for him), but Bonnie, once again in a staggering display of always doing the opposite to what he expected, gave him the one reaction he couldn't have seen coming: she burst out laughing.

"Yeah, sure," she grinned, extracting herself from him for a second time. Except she didn't move away, simply put one finger under his chin and took a hold of his shirt with the other. She backed up, pulling Damon with her as she said cheerfully "I'm the bad-ass now, remember Damon? I don't need you being all clingy."

Damon couldn't hold back his own bark of laughter at that, and regarded her with a raised eyebrow. "Bonnie, Bonnie, Bonnie," he said with a shake of his head. "I have a lot to teach you."

She met his gaze challengingly and he took a hold of her wrist. "Being a bad-ass isn't just about pissing people off and making an example of yourself." His hand pried her own from his shirt, and he bought her wrist to his lips, eyes never leaving hers. "It's about doing something you shouldn't for no real reason at all."

Bonnie didn't flinch or get flustered at the close contact or the intensity of his gaze as he continued to speak. "What was this little breakdown about, hmm?" Damon asked. "Pressure at home? Lack of sleep?" He looked at her pityingly. "That time of the month?"

Bonnie gave an indignant cry and swatted his arm, sending a warning jolt of electricity through him.

"For your information," she began resentfully as he looked on in amusement. "I've been busy with all the witch stuff. As well as visions I keep getting while I sleep and spending all my time saving your ass with all the vampires we're dealing with, I haven't had much time to get work done. When the teacher started bitching to me about something I hadn't finished, it completely wasn't my fault that I lost it. The ass deserved it."

"Undoubtedly," Damon grinned, unable to hide his pleasure - he was enjoying not only how riled up she was, but also because the more pissed off she got, the hotter she seemed.

Bonnie appeared to catch on to this, because a second later she pulled a mocking face at him, turned smartly on her heels, and strode away towards her car. He quickly set off in her wake.

"So how long's your sentence?" he called after her.

"'Til the end of the week," she called without looking back.

"Suspension never did make any sense to me," he mused as he caught up to her. "Giving kids time off school as punishment. Seems like a good thing."

Bonnie shrugged. "Normally they give you work, but I think that the principal was too scared to give me anything."

Damon chuckled. "So what are you gonna do?"

Bonnie looked unconcerned. "Not sure yet. Figured I'd just go with it. See what happened."

Jackpot.

"So…" Damon said slowly, a sly edge to his voice. "If I offered to take you on a drive somewhere, you wouldn't shoot me down straight away?"

Bonnie drew to a halt, and turned to regard him suspiciously; Damon was still however able to see the excited gleam spark in her eyes at the prospect.

"I'm probably gonna regret asking this," she finally said. "But what did you have in mind?"

Damon's grin lit up his entire face. Him and his little witch, going out and getting wild – he decided to take advantage of this while it lasted. "Just what you said. Going with it. Seeing what happens."

Of course, Bonnie wasn't a complete idiot and took a second to consider that she was basically agreeing to run off with Damon Salvatore for a few days. Damon saw this, and added "Of course, you don't have to. I mean, you could stay here, listen to Elena and Stefan go off at you about irresponsibility, letting your powers get the better of you, me being a bad influence, you needing to learn to…"

He didn't get any further because Bonnie had grabbed a hold of his leather jacket and was dragging him across the parking lot to his sports car which was waiting under the trees. "Let's go," was her short reply.

Damon grinned.

So, when Damon heard through the proverbial grape vine that was his brother's girlfriend that Bonnie Bennett had got herself suspended, his first thought had been that this was a part of some elaborate ploy of Stefan's to get back at him; there was no way in this world or the next that _Bonnie Bennett _would get herself suspended.

On this one occasion, Damon didn't mind being wrong. Because on this one occasion, being wrong had earned him a road trip with a hot, bad-ass little Bennett witch, who was fast surpassing her master in the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

* * *

Well, you all know what comes at the end *cough cough reviews cough cough*


	8. Ritual

Okay, so this is the continuation of the previous chapter. I wasn't actually going to write this, but then after the last post I had more than one person all excited about the road-trip, so I sat down and wrote a follow-up. Since then, I've written about four more one-shots, so I just hope they are as good as some of my previous ones. So here is the infamous Bamon road-trip for you all to enjoy.

Killerkaiser xx

**Disclaimer**: I don't own VD but if it went on sale I would not only be the first in line, but would also have taser to make sure I got to the front of the queue...

_Summary_: Bonnie takes Damon up on his offer and they hit the road

* * *

Bonnie stopped trying to read the passing road-signs: they were going too fast.

She had no idea where they were, or where they were headed. Damon sat in the driver's seat, a light grin on his lips as he directed the car with one hand, despite the high speeds. Seemed that he had a thing for speed.

Bonnie should have been worried. Freaking out even. But she couldn't bring herself to be.

Pendulum's 'Watercolor' was blasting through the speakers, and she sang along regardless of her company or situation. Every now and then she was aware of Damon's eyes flicking towards her and the back to road. She said nothing.

If fact, the two of them had said very little since they had roared out of Mystic Falls that afternoon, without one word to Bonnie's family, or Damon's. No doubt Elena would be frantic with worry in a few hours after she realized that Bonnie was missing. And Stefan would notice Damon's disappearance, put two and two together and…

Damon seemed to be having the same thoughts. And in response, Bonnie simply grinned, and Damon stepped on the gas.

* * *

The expected call from Elena actually came earlier than anticipated. It had just gone three in the afternoon and they had pulled up outside a bar when Bonnie's phone rang. Flipping open her phone, she was greeted with Elena's name on the screen.

Bonnie sighed.

Damon cast her a sideways glance but they both knew that not answering would only make things worse.

Bonnie flipped open the phone.

"Hey Elena."

"Bonnie?" Elena's voice was shrill. "Thank God! Are you okay? I saw you leave school with Damon. Is everything alright?"

Damon, who was wincing from what he could hear of Elena's frantic voice, rolled his eyes.

"I'm fine," Bonnie told her friend calmly. "We just headed out of town for a while. We'll be back tonight."

"What do you mean out of town? With Damon?"

Bonnie winced now as well as Elena's voice went up a few octaves. In the background she could hear Stefan, sounding similarly worried. Bonnie groaned silently.

In this moment, Damon took it upon himself to fix this problem and promptly plucked the phone from Bonnie's grasp. He put it to his ear with a smile.

"Bonnie's phone."

"Damon?"

Damon smiled. "Unfortunately. Look Elena, we're about to head out of range, and frankly, I'm bored of this conversation. I'll have her back by eleven. Bye."

Bonnie heard Elena yell Damon's name once before he snapped the phone shut and tossed it to her.

"Thank you," Bonnie told him gratefully.

"No," Damon said with a smile. "Thank _you_."

* * *

"Go again."

Damon's voice was determined. And slightly pissed off.

Bonnie grinned as another shot was placed in front of her. Damon took his and downed it without even waiting for the call. Bonnie followed a second later.

He had lost track of how many shots they'd had, and yet the witch didn't seem drunk at all. Indeed, she currently regarded him with sexy smirk and raised eyebrow.

An old friend of Damon's owned the bar they were currently in, and Damon had by some miracle managed to convince the witch to do shots with him. However, his plan of getting her smashed and obviously taking advantage of her had gone out the window when he found out that she seemed to have a bottomless liver.

"How long we gonna keep going at this Damon?" she asked him lazily as she threw back another shot.

"Until I figure out how you're still sober," Damon growled.

Bonnie laughed and to his surprise, leant in conspiratorially. The sudden proximity made his blood burn and he unknowingly inhaled her scent.

"Magic, dumbass," she laughed quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm using magic to absorb the alcohol. I can last longer that you can, and my liver actually works."

"Damnit," Damon said, annoyed at himself for not thinking of this before. "So I take it my plan of getting you drunk and seducing you doesn't have much of an edge now does it?"

"Who says I need to be drunk to sleep with you?"

Damon looked hopeful.

Bonnie burst out laughing.

* * *

They jetted out of the bar at about nine, after Damon had slain Bonnie at pool and she had then returned the favor at darts. Damon had, unsuccessfully, tried to convince her to spend the night in a motel with him; Bonnie had laughed and told him Elena and Stefan would most likely organize a search party… or a mob.

It was five to eleven by the time Damon and Bonnie walked up to the front door of the Salvatore house, and it was pouring down with rain. They were both soaked, but neither seemed to notice, instead seeming to revel in it. They stopped in front of the door, mindless of the rapid drops hitting them.

"So," Damon finally said, breaking the silence. "Is this the part where you tell me that no one must ever know about what happened today?"

To his surprise, Bonnie laughed. She seemed to be doing that a lot today.

"Why would I say that? I spent the day out with a friend. Nothing happened."

"Unfortunately," Damon muttered, trying to ignore the tightening in his chest when she called him her 'friend'.

Bonnie laughed again. "Damon." He met her gaze. "If you had really wanted to take advantage of me today, that pathetic attempt with the drinks wouldn't have been the end of it. You were the one behaving today, not me."

Damon stared at her for a second, at a loss for words.

Bonnie smiled. Not a light, carefree smile. A sexy, suggestive smile.

"But you were much better behaved than I would've guessed. And, I guess good behavior should be rewarded."

Damon barely dared to believe it when Bonnie leaned towards.

But the feel of her lips on his was _very_, _very_ real.

Her mouth was soft, warm, just as he would have guessed. It burned against his cool skin, and he felt an electric current running between them. Her teeth grazed his bottom lip and his tongue flickered along hers in return. Her mouth opened for him, and they engaged in battle for dominance that neither of them would surrender. Her hands came up to his neck, and his found her waist. Pulling Bonnie towards him, he melded her to his body. Her fingers wound their way through his hair, and his hands moved along the waistband of her jeans and hem of her top, slipping underneath. He felt the smooth tight skin of her stomach, and felt her own hands run over his abs and chest, lifting his shirt. He was going hot and cold all over with no signs of it relenting. This wasn't like kissing some random human he picked up in a bar. This wasn't like kissing Katherine. This wasn't like he'd imagined kissing Elena would have been back when thoughts of her had plagued his mind. This was fire and electricity and reverence and like nothing he had ever experienced. And possibly like nothing he would ever experience again. So he was determined to keep this for as long as possible.

Unfortunately, fate was once again working against him.

The front door opened and light spilled out, revealing the figures of Elena and Stefan. Bonnie wrenched herself back from Damon before Stefan and Elena opened the door, both of them immediately missing the contact.

She met Damon's eyes once. They were intense.

She responded in the only way she knew he would understand. Winked. Greeted Elena and Stefan with a cheerfully deceptive smile. And walked inside.

* * *

Even after Bonnie become a vampire and joined Damon in eternity, they still vanished for one day every year. Took off across the country on one of their road trips. They were never gone for more than day, no matter where they went. But it happened every year without fail. No one questioned it. Bonnie and Damon were not overly sentimental, so this trip was the one instance that no one mentioned.

It was simply one day, among many, that was all about the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

* * *

So there we go. I can't believe the next Vampire Diaries episode isn't out until December 2, what bullshit! And I don't like this new Rose person, and not just 'cause she slept with Damon. Or that Jeremy and Bonnie are probably gonna hook up. I like Jeremy but he should have been with Anna and needs to stay away from Bonnie. As does this new Luka chap, even though he seems alright. Anyway, I'm rambling. Feel free to cut me off with reviews...


	9. Boredom

So here's just a fun little chapter for you all. This one's set in the future, after Bonnie has become a vampire and been with Damon for a little while. The next one-shot is a bit of Damon & Bonnie back when they hate each other, and then the one after that is angst like you won't bloody believe, so we got a little bit of chillin' with Bonnie and Damon before then. Enjoy.

Killerkaiser xx

**Disclaimer**: Here I am. Claiming. That I 'dis' the owning of this piece. With an -er on the end. The Vampire Diaries dis-claim-er.

_Summary_: Bonnie & Damon find a way to entertain themselves

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"You bored yet?"

"Believe it or not, yes."

Damon removed his lips from where they had been trailing up Bonnie's spine and flopped down on top of her with a disgruntled huff. Bonnie easily used her vampire strength to push him off slightly so that she could turn onto her back, to look up at him. His fingers trailed absentmindedly along her bare curves, as they both considered the problem before them.

"This is bullshit," was Damon's final contribution.

"Tell me about it," Bonnie said glumly. "Not being able to have sex because apparently we're too loud and everyone else in this house needs to _sleep_."

Damon snorted derisively. "Please. That's just what Stefan and Elena say because they can't admit that we have more fun than they do."

"I think it was the werewolves' vote that buried us though. I thought those things were supposed to be nocturnal anyway?"

Damon shrugged. "Tyler Lockwood's your friend, not mine. You talk to him and his werewolf buddies."

Bonnie sighed. "You would have at least expected Jeremy and Anna to be on our side."

Let's explain, shall we? Three years ago, Bonnie and Damon skipped town, to go do what a vampire and a newly turned vampire-witch would do. They left a comfortable Stefan and now-vampire Elena to live out their eternal days in the Salvatore boarding house, and to help Elena get over the disappearance of her brother Jeremy a few months earlier. Bonnie and Damon however did not expect to meet up with Jeremy on their travels, who was now living his life (or lack of) as one of the undead, with his new mate Anna; this fact was something that Damon and Bonnie neglected to mention to Stefan and Elena.

However, apparently Stefan and Elena just couldn't stay out of trouble without Damon and Bonnie around, and Mystic Falls was soon overrun with a vampire army. Stefan and Elena, being completely unoriginal, had called in Damon and Bonnie for help. After a brief discussion and an agreement that it was a while since Damon had gotten the chance to piss his brother off, the two had returned.

At the point when the vampire numbers were too great to deal with, the Salvatore vampires had called in help. Jeremy and Anna had returned, and after Elena was done yelling at her brother for becoming a vampire (or disappearing, they weren't sure which), they had agreed to stay and help. Stefan and Elena had also called on Tyler Lockwood and his werewolf friends for some back-up, as well as making contact with Pearl, Alaric, Harper and a few others.

They now were living in a full Salvatore boarding house, packed with vampires, werewolves, witches – you name it.

Thus, Bonnie and Damon were expected to be quiet, and this did not work for them.

"You know," Bonnie said slowly, in a tone that Damon knew only too well. He looked down at her suspiciously.

Bonnie grinned up at him. "We could distract ourselves."

Damon flashed her a smile that was somewhere between turned on and curious. "What did you have in mind?"

Bonnie gave a low chuckle, and without warning flipped them over so she was straddling him. She leant in close to nuzzle his ear slightly. "I think we," she said, her tongue darting out to catch his earlobe. "Should go make breakfast."

And within the next second she was off of a very startled Damon Salvatore and pulling on the shirt which he had discarded on the floor earlier that night. He watched her as she did up some of the buttons and turned to grin at him. He raised an eyebrow but sensed that this was not something he should question. He had recognized her tone, one she had in fact inherited from him – it always warned of trouble-making to come.

And if there was one thing Damon Salvatore was always up for, it was trouble-making.

And sex.

But that one wasn't an option right now so he would take what he could get.

He had his trousers on in the next second and was at Bonnie's side, looking at her expectantly. She grinned, turned and sped out of the door, Damon hot on her heels.

"And to think I used to kill people when I was bored."

Bonnie shrugged. "We could still do that."

"Well," Damon said casually. "I'm always up for a bit of bloodshed, but I don't think they'll be expecting this. You know me: I love to broaden my horizons."

Bonnie laughed, and then looked thoughtful. "It begs the question though," she said to Damon. "Why do you guys have a sprinkler system installed anyway?"

Damon continued pulling pans from the drawers. "We're vampires. Kinda fire-phobic." He turned to Bonnie and gave her a smirk. "Besides, the general idea was that if witches ever invaded the house, we'd just turn the sprinklers on and melt them all."

Bonnie gave him a look torn between scorn and amusement. "No wonder I'm able to kick you ass so often, if you think that's all you need to take a witch out."

Damon returned her look with a grin as he loaded butter into the pan and switched on the heat.

"You realize this is gonna take ages to heat up enough, right?" Damon asked.

Bonnie didn't say anything, simply answered his question with a smirk and narrowed her eyes at the pan. In an instant, the fire roared upwards, evaporating the butter and causing a cloud of smoke to rise from the burning remains.

Damon coughed dramatically and checked his eyebrows hadn't been singed off. He threw Bonnie a look which she returned, and he couldn't help but smile.

"Ready?" he asked with a smirk.

Bonnie grinned and stepped forward, taking the smoking pan from him. In one swift movement he had bent down, laced his fingers together, and allowed Bonnie to step up onto his hands. He rose, taking her with him, and she was boosted up to the ceiling, balancing precariously on his palms.

Of course, considering that his face was precariously close to her waist, Damon looked up at her with a smirk. "I quite like this position… I mean… plan."

Bonnie, who appeared to have been thinking along the same lines, smiled and rolled her eyes, before returning to her work. They both watched as Bonnie lifted the smoking pan up to the smoke detector. Sure enough, a few seconds later, it went off, and then after a moment, was followed by every single sprinkler in the house.

As the water cascaded down on them, Damon released Bonnie and she fell lightly to the floor, just as Damon asked casually "You know how some dogs don't like getting wet: do you think it's the same for werewolves?"

Bonnie went to answer, but before she got the chance, the kitchen door crashed open and revealed a very wet, very pissed off Stefan and Elena.

"DAMON!" Stefan yelled, just as Elena shrieked "BONNIE!"

Regardless of the shit they got into for their little stunt, it transpired that they had managed to wake every single person in the house. The dogs had gotten their bath, Damon and Bonnie had cured their boredom, and at least Jeremy and Anna seemed to have seen the funny side of it, so all in all it was considered a good morning's work.

Apart, obviously, from almost being kicked out of the house.

But, hey: sacrifices had to be made in the pursuit of the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

* * *

So there we go. The next one's not so cuddly between them, but I like it anyway, gotta have a mix. Like y'know... maybe a mix of reviews...


	10. Conflict

Okay, so this is one of my favorite chapters, out of the ones of written, just 'cause I think its so Bamon. There's a kinda angst-filled one coming up, so we get to have fun with some of Bonnie & Damon's disagreements for the minute. I'm also currently working on a small series, which is just ten or so 100 word one-shots for Bonnie & Damon which I may do for some other series, depending on whether people think it's a good idea? Anyway, enjoy this for now.

Killerkaiser x

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Vampire Diaries, I just own everyone else...

_Summary_: For once, Bonnie is the root of the problem

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Elena weaved her way through the crowd packed on the steps leading up to the Lockwood main hall, searching for Stefan. With the Mayor's funeral and the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death, as well as Damon skulking around – Elena knew she would only be comfortable once she was beside Stefan again. Unfortunately, whoever it was up above that enjoyed screwing with her life (probably the same person that had led the vampires to town in the first place), had decided she hadn't quite suffered enough for one day.

"Elena."

Elena heaved a heavy sigh and turned to Damon, who was standing on the porch overlooking the sprawling Lockwood estate with a considerate eye.

"What do you want Damon?" she asked flatly, not in the mood to play his games.

Strangely enough, Damon didn't seem concerned with his usual antics. Perhaps things were turning Elena's way.

"A word," he said in all seriousness; this tone did not fool her though, because she could still detect that edge to his voice that meant he was up to no good and about to piss someone off. He looked at Elena concernedly before he spoke. "You need to put a leash on that little friend of yours."

Elena stared at him, confused. "What?"

"Bonnie."

Elena immediately went tense. "What did you do?"

Damon's composure slipped as he almost choked at her question. "What did _I_ do?" he exclaimed incredulously. "Um, she used her powers on me in public and keeps threatening to kill me!"

As ridiculous as it may have sounded, because Bonnie was supposed to be the calm, collected one, this was in fact true. After a short conversation about the vampire-torturing device affecting Mayor Lockwood, Damon and Bonnie's exchange had once again turned ugly. When he started being his usual cocky-ass self, Bonnie couldn't help but bring him down a few pegs. In fact, if his lingering headache was any indication, quite a lot of pegs.

Regardless, Elena's reply was less than satisfactory. "And?"

Damon took a deep breath before he spoke, to avoid saying something he'd be made to regret (although he doubted Elena packed quite the same punch as Bonnie did).

"Look," he said heatedly, getting slightly irritated. "I agreed to help you out. And Bonnie agreed to help you out, even though she double-crossed us and almost got us killed – grudging props to her for that by the way," he admitted reluctantly. "For getting one past us." He paused to consider this. "Kinda like something I'd do," he mused. He shook his head fiercely to get back on point. "Regardless, I can't work with her if she wants me _permanently_ dead."

Elena, who had been watching this with a bored expression, gave a sigh and told him "Damon, I don't have time for this."

She made to move past him but he stepped in her way, speaking hurriedly. "I mean, this could all be solved very quickly." He shrugged indifferently. "I could just y'know, rip her head off." Elena's mouth shot open and he cut in before she could get anything out.

"But," he said pointedly. 'Since she's your friend and you and Stefan are on your 'be good' power trip, I have to find another way to deal with this. Unfortunately, and it physically pains me to say this," (It did in fact, for he winced as he spoke) "But if I try anything, she may just cause me to spontaneously combust from the inside out. So, if you want both of us coming out of this in one piece, you need to talk to her."

"I don't need to do anything," Elena told him shortly. "If the big, bad Damon Salvatore can't handle Bonnie on his own… he needs to consider, first off, to stop being such an ass to her."

Damon looked insulted. "Hey, you saw in the hospital: I tried to call a truce, she's the one not going for it."

Elena gave a derisive snort. "You got her grandmother killed, the closest thing she had to family. You've screwed up the lives of all her friends, and because of you she's now a teenage witch having to deal with vampires."

"Which she should be thanking me for," Damon told her. "She's a super-hot, bad-ass witch now. Much better than a loser human teenager."

Elena rolled her eyes at him. "I'm just saying that you can't blame her. So I think for now, you just need to stay out of her way."

Again, Elena made to walk away from him but paused to say "Besides, you were with her, alone and you're still here, in one piece. Seems like she's got a bit more control than you do."

With that, Elena headed off into the crowd. Or at least she would have done, if Damon's voice hadn't called her back.

"Speaking of control…" His voice was sly, suggestive and Elena turned back to him cautiously. Damon shrugged disinterestedly. "I'm just saying that if that wicked little mouth of hers doesn't get to me, her blood still might."

Elena's own blood ran cold. "Damon…" she said in a warning tone.

Damon took no notice and just slipped his hands casually into his pockets. "I just mean, I've had one taste already and well… I mean witches blood is just so…Whoo!" He pretended to shake the chills away as Elena glared at his gleeful expression.

"Got that spark to it you know?" he grinned. After a second of consideration he said "Kinda like Bonnie."

He strolled towards Elena as she watched him warily, praying for Stefan to come and find her: she knew what Damon was doing. Knew when he was gearing himself up for a game. Damon noticed this and smiled.

"I mean, she's just the best friend. Caroline's the one that's out there for every guy to take a look at, you're the one they love and Bonnie…" He spoke almost regretfully. "She's the secretly really hot one with the weird side." He laughed slightly. "Course that's never bothered _me_. After all, I like my girls with a little bit of a dark streak and Bonnie…"

Elena cut him off before he could go any further, her voice firm. "I think if you so much as look at her wrong right now, she'll have your head, so it's in your best interests to back off." She meant it as a warning, but knew before she said it that Damon would take no heed.

"At least that'll be easy for him."

They both froze at the sound of a familiar voice behind them. Bonnie strolled forward, the hints of a mocking smile gracing her lips. "If there's one thing Damon knows how to do it's to look out for himself."

Her eyes flicked up towards his and Damon turned to Elena.

"See what I mean. Always with the insults."

"Damon…" Elena started tiredly.

"No he's right," Bonnie cut her off. Her voice turned colder, her expression even more so. "Not like he doesn't deserve it though."

Damon laughed bitterly and visibly fought to control his temper. "You better to tell her to watch it Elena, or she's gonna end up with my hand around that pretty little neck of hers."

"Well," Bonnie smirked unconcernedly. "You've already had your teeth round it once so…" Her tone changed from teasing to harsh. "Why don't you stop whining to Elena about your problems with me, and actually make a move."

Damon responded to her challenge in an instant and took a step forward as she raised her chin defiantly.

Elena jumped between them. "Bonnie, stop," she said fiercely. She looked to Damon. "Damon, back off."

"Hey, the witch totally started this one," Damon snapped, eyes fixed murderously on Bonnie.

"And I'm gonna finish it," Bonnie retorted. "Come on Salvatore." Her eyes took on a gleam, her expression taunting, a dare. "Bring it."

"Bonnie, stop it!" Elena snapped. "Damon, no," she said firmly, putting a hand against his chest to hold him back.

"She's asking for it," Damon seethed.

Bonnie viciously enjoyed seeing his temper slip from his control. "I'm _begging_ for it."

But before Damon could make a move, giving Bonnie the opportunity she had been waiting for to take him out, Elena shouted "Enough!"

She looked between both of them, upset and angry. "I don't care what's up between you two, but you need to get over it. You're gonna have to deal with each other whether you want to or not. So, Bonnie," she whipped around to order her friend. "Damon stays alive." She turned to Damon and told him "Damon, stay out of Bonnie's way."

Both Bonnie and Damon spoke at once, taken aback by Elena's outburst. "But…"

"No," Elena cut them off sharply.

"But she," Damon whined, just as Bonnie complained 'But he…"

"Stop it, Elena snapped fiercely.

"Elena…" Damon and Bonnie tried one more time.

"Figure it out," was all Elena said before she stormed away.

There was silence for a moment. Damon, as per usual, was the first to break it with a cheerful "So… guess this means I can't kill you."

Bonnie looked at him with raised eyebrows, and if she was disconcerted by his quick attitude change, she didn't show it.

"And you can't kill me," he continued slowly. "So what _are_ we gonna do to pass the time?" He waggled his eyebrows at her. "We gonna play games Bonnie?"

Now Damon Salvatore was not often caught out, but the witch had a way of doing everything he didn't expect. True to this, she upended it all this time when she laughed.

Damon looked at her warily, with a slight smile tugging at his lips as he tried to hide his amusement at her mirth. "What?"

Bonnie shrugged with a smile. "I just never figured you for the type of guy who plays games he can't win."

Well, that was a proverbial slap in the face wasn't it?

She said no more, simply turned and sauntered away. Damon didn't speak, not until his eyes met Bonnie's for the briefest second as she paused at the door before moving into the corridor and out of sight.

"Who says I haven't won?"

Ring those bells ladies and gentlemen. Round One begins now of the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

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The ringing bells could also signify incoming reviews...


	11. Fracture

So, this chapter's a little different from the rest of them, considering it's basically nothing but angst. Depressing I know, but I hope that other people will find it as emotional as I do, and enjoy it all the same. It's sort of a progression in Damon & Bonnie's relationship. The difficult thing about writing Damon when he's distraught is that he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would cry and go all Edward Cullen on us. Still, I wanted to show a bit of his vulnerability in this one, but also obviously his anger and his hopelessness. I hope I got the right amount of them all, while still allowing him to stay true to the Damon character. Hope you guys don't find it too depressing. Killerkaiser xx

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Vampire Diaries, Damon would come to his senses, stop being such a loser and just get over himself enough to be with Bonnie... but since I dont, I can just yell at him through the screen anyway...

_Summary_: Bonnie helps Damon deal with the aftermath of Katherine

* * *

Bonnie pulled off her jacket and off-the-shoulder top, throwing them on the nearest chair as she tugged down the ends of her black camisole. Dropping her bag on the floor she moved through into her bedroom, already reaching down to begin unzipping her wedge-heeled leather boots. She didn't get that far however, because the moment she stepped into her room she let out a gasp and her hand leapt to her chest. Despite her shock though, when she spoke her voice was cutting.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Damon didn't look at her. He just kept staring at some blank spot on her wardrobe door, from where he was sat on the end of her bed. Bonnie slowly moved around the wall of her room to get a look at his face, her own expression suspicious.

"Damon?" she asked sharply when he didn't say anything more. Again he didn't answer. This time, he titled his head slightly to meet her questioning gaze. Bonnie's fingers had been twitching as fire rushed towards her palm, but the heat died out the moment she saw his face. Bonnie's angry expression fell.

Damon's eyes were swimming with tears.

The usually icy blue orbs were dead, dull, obscured by tears welling up that were only just being kept at bay. But judging by his expression, he wasn't going to try much longer.

And Bonnie couldn't help it. Even though this was Damon Salvatore, the Damon Salvatore she was currently trying to kill, the Damon Salvatore she hated, the Damon Salvatore that had taken everything from her… when she saw his face, all thoughts of anger, of revenge, vanished.

Bonnie had dealt with a lot of grief in her life. She had lost her mother through the divorce of her parents. She had lost her own grams just when the pieces of her life started falling into place. She had supported Elena and Matt through their break-up, been there for Elena after the death of her parents. She had seen everyone around her fall apart, seen them all broken, shattered, filled with pain and hurt that seemed to have no end.

But Damon…

Right now, looking at him, Bonnie didn't recognize him. The anguish, the utter sense of betrayal and heartbreak – his whole world was falling apart right before her eyes.

"What happened to you?" Bonnie asked quietly, as if talking loudly would cause him to break down at that very moment.

It was a few seconds before Damon spoke, and when he did, he tried to smile, but failed. "What hasn't happened to me?"

When he didn't go on any further, Bonnie said quietly again "Damon…"

"You know that I can't remember my birthday?" Damon said abruptly, cutting Bonnie off. She looked at him with a confused expression.

"What?"

He laughed, a hollow, scornful sound. "I don't know my own birthday. I missed them all. I was so focused on everything else, so focused on my search that I just forgot about it. I mean, Stefan remembers his. But I can't remember mine." The tears glimmered brighter in his eyes, and when he spoke his voice was quiet, as if it hurt him to say anything more. "But then, Stefan's always had one up on me hasn't he?"

"Damon…" Bonnie said finally. "If you don't tell me what's wrong, I can't help you. Even if you do, I probably still can't help you. Or I won't. So you need to go."

When Damon laughed again, the grief in his voice clouded everything. "Ah, there she is. Same old Bonnie."

"Why did you come here Damon?" Bonnie asked quietly. "If something's wrong, you should go see Elena."

Damon shrugged, with no effort in the movement. "I can't. She'll try and be nice. Try and comfort me. I need someone who hates me as much as I do. I need someone who'll tell me that I'm pathetic. Stupid. That I should've seen this coming. And that they don't care. Because I don't deserve to have anyone care."

"I don't wanna help you Damon," Bonnie said shortly. "But even if I can, you have to tell me what's going on. Otherwise… leave."

For a moment, Damon didn't move. Then, he rose, slowly. He moved towards her window without looking at her, Bonnie's eyes on him the whole time. Then, he froze. Bonnie stiffened as he turned back towards her, the movement sharp, unnaturally fast. When he spoke his voice was pained, desperate.

"What's wrong with me Bonnie? What's the matter with me?"

This time, Bonnie didn't say anything. She just stood. Watched. Waited.

"I mean, I wasn't always like this was I?" Damon stopped and shook his head, as if trying to clear his thoughts. "I wasn't always…" He trailed off. "And she just… she didn't care. I could see it, when she said it. She just didn't care. Katherine didn't care."

Bonnie didn't react when he said Katherine's name. From the moment she saw Damon's face, she knew who had done this. The only person who could hurt him like this. The only person he cared about enough to be able to hurt him like this.

"I've never loved you." His voice was devoid of all emotion as he recalled Katherine's words to him earlier that night. "It's Stefan. It's always been Stefan. And it always will be." He gave a laugh, a hollow, deadened laugh. "Stefan." He nodded, as if finally understanding, making sense. "Stefan."

A moment of silence. And then…

"WHY STEFAN?" he suddenly burst out, turning on Bonnie with wild eyes. "WHY STEFAN? IT'S ALWAYS STEFAN! WITH MY FATHER! WITH KATHERINE! WITH ELENA! IT'S ALWAYS STEFAN!"

Damon gave a roar and swept everything off Bonnie's desk, sending it flying across the room. Her books clattered against the wall, her perfume bottles smashed; she was thankful that her dad was out.

"Even you," Damon snarled, rounding on her. "I mean you HATE all vampires, and yet you're still his friend!"

When Bonnie didn't reply, simply continued to watch him coldly, he swung around, gave a growl and ran his hands furiously through his hair, fisting the roots in his agony. Then, he turned on her again.

"But you know what?" he exclaimed, throwing his arms out. For the first time Bonnie saw the look in his eye, the look of reckless abandon, of a madman. "You wanna kill me? You want me dead?" He marched forward and roughly took a hold of her neck, eyes shining on the verge of lunacy. She didn't react, but watched as he closed his hand around her throat, teeth bared in a psychotic smile and leaned in close. "Then kill me," he hissed.

Bonnie didn't hesitate. Damon was thrown from her by an invisible force, slamming him into her wardrobe doors. His arms were pinned out against the wood, head forced back, the bonds pulling him tightly. It was obviously a strain on him, but he didn't seem to realize it, or care.

Bonnie strode forward, face impassive.

"Do it," Damon snarled. All the anguish, the agony, the betrayal radiated off him. His eyes shone with unshed tears, filled with hate and pain. "What are you waiting for," he hissed. "DO IT! DO IT BONNIE! SHOW ME WHAT YOU CAN DO! I'VE SCREWED UP YOUR WHOLE LIFE, AND RIGHT NOW, YOU CAN TAKE IT ALL BACK! SO DO IT BONNIE! KILL ME! KILL ME! KILL ME BONNIE!"

And just like that, Damon broke. His crazed yells turned to sobs, the tears falling without any resistance.

"KILL ME!"

His words became choked, his body racked with sobs.

"KILL ME BONNIE!"

His head dropped.

"Kill me!"

He ground the words out, barely able to speak.

"Kill me."

His voice was raw, his eyes shining with immeasurable pain.

"Kill me."

It was no more than a whisper. A desperate plea.

And as always, Bonnie didn't listen. Instead she took a few fast steps forward. Stopped before him. His eyes met hers. Her hand came up to touch his cheek, her palm against it. The bonds on Damon vanished and he fell into Bonnie's arms.

She caught him, falling to the ground with him, onto her knees. She cradled him against her as he sobbed. He held on to her as if she was all that was holding him to the ground. All that was keeping him together. And she held onto him. Just as she had done with her father, Matt, Elena, Caroline: Bonnie had always been the strong one, the shoulder to cry on, the one who didn't break apart. Just as she was now.

She held onto Damon, and he held onto her as he cried out the remains of his fractured heart.

The truth hurt. Pain hurt. Heartbreak hurt. Sometimes, amongst all the agony, amongst the remains of a splintered world, there was just no room for the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

* * *

And there we go, admittedly a depressing chapter. Hope you guys all liked it anyway. Reviews may just cheer Damon up...


	12. Progress

Okay, so this one's a little more light-hearted than the last one. Bit of development of Bonnie & Damon's relationship 'cause she can't hate him forever. He's just too hot. Hope you enjoy, if I was in Bonnie's position I know I would ;) Killerkaiser xx

**Disclaimer**: *INSERT DISCLAIMER FROM PREVIOUS CHAPTERS HERE*

_Summary_: Dancing seems to get them further than talking does

* * *

The first time they danced, it was for the wedding of one of Caroline's relatives. Everything was to be set up just like the Founder's Ball, except more elaborate, and Caroline had managed to rope Elena and Bonnie into the ceremony. Apparently, Caroline's relative (Bonnie neither knew nor cared who exactly she was), wanted to proceed outside after the vows, where she and her groom would take to the floor, joined by five other couples. These couples were then supposed to twirl around and perform some sort of waltz or something. For aesthetics, had been what Caroline had said.

Bonnie's initial reaction had been a flat out 'no', delivered with scornful perfection. However, the Forbes' were more terrifying than all the vampires, werewolves and witches in Mystic Falls put together, and what Caroline wanted… well you get the idea.

Originally Bonnie had planned to ask Matt to be her dance partner. He and Bonnie had always been good friends and she had felt comfortable asking him for the favor. Unfortunately, Matt wasn't going, and even if he was, Bonnie knew it would've been pretty awkward due to Matt and Caroline's history; especially considering Caroline was now with Tyler.

So Bonnie had been forced to search elsewhere. It wasn't like finding a partner was going to be hard. Or at least it wouldn't have been if it hadn't been for Damon.

Naturally, the moment he had found out about Bonnie's predicament Damon had offered his services, as chances to mess with the witch like this were rare (especially ones where possible groping could be involved), and they were not to be missed. Bonnie had immediately (and wisely) told him to fuck off.

Of course, Damon Salvatore was not one to take rejection, so he busied himself for the next few weeks making sure that any of Bonnie's possible suitors (for it was surprising how many guys were willing to help her out, at least to the witch) became otherwise engaged.

After visiting Pete (the latest in her long and now non-existent line of possible dance partners) in the hospital after his 'mysterious accident' that he conveniently couldn't remember, Bonnie had stormed over to the Salvatore house, slapped Damon across the face, and told him that his hands were to stay strictly on her waist and nowhere else.

Thus, Bonnie found herself on Saturday morning in one of the local gym's dance studios, opposite Damon, who was obviously considering which part of her he was going to get his hands on first; Bonnie was currently preparing herself with electric shocks bouncing off her fingertips in the certain event that he forgot the boundaries.

Worse, Stefan and Elena kept shooting her worried glances from where they were partnered, but Bonnie didn't feel guilty at all in ignoring them since they hadn't exactly helped her escape this Damon-clad fate.

"Face your partners!" came the call from their teacher, a middle-aged woman who was an obvious control-freak and didn't think any of them were good enough to be under her instruction.

Bonnie didn't even bother to hold back her sigh as she turned to face Damon, who had that familiar grin on his face. Warning him with her eyes, she slid her hand through Damon's and placed the other on his shoulder, feeling his go to her waist. Damon pulled her forward, regardless of her annoyed stance, and melded her against him.

"I think this is gonna be fun," was the only comment he made.

Bonnie gave him a scornful look. "Well then, you and I have very different definitions of fun, don't we?" she said coldly as their instructor came around to check their positions. Bonnie heard her fussing over the inflection of Elena's hand in Stefan's, and she rolled her eyes. Damon, who seemed to be listening in to the same conversation, grinned.

"Perfect," said their instructor after a few moments of surveying Bonnie and Damon, obviously trying to find anything she could fault them on. Even now, she seemed disbelieving of her own praise. Finally, after scrutinizing them for longer than necessary, and just at the point where Bonnie was about to remind her that she did in fact actually have something useful to be doing, the woman moved away.

However, Bonnie immediately regretted this, since now that she was gone, Damon was once more able to open his mouth.

"I think it's a sign."

"What?" Bonnie looked at him confused, this not being what she had expected his next comment to be.

Damon grinned. "The fact that we apparently fit perfectly together. I mean, if this is how well we click when we dance, just imagine what the sex would be like."

Silence.

Bonnie didn't respond. In fact, she seemed not to move at all. Damon's grin faltered at her lack of reaction, and it slipped even further as his disconcertion grew at the way she was staring at him. It wasn't until a few seconds later that he registered the heat. And this wasn't the good kind of heat, the one he'd become accustomed to when his cool skin touched Bonnie's. This heat was fucking _burning_.

Damon leapt away from Bonnie, and she watched with cool satisfaction as he surveyed his burnt hands. His gaze went to hers, a combination of annoyance and shock in his eyes. It was Bonnie's turn to smirk.

"Guess I forgot to tell you. It's not just your hands that have gotta behave."

Damon opened his mouth for a snarled retort, and then seemed to catch himself. His face slipped into a slight smile, and he nodded his head towards Bonnie. Taking an easy step forward, he resumed his former position with a smooth "I'll do my best to control myself."

Suspicious as she was of this behavior, Bonnie regarded him for a moment, and then allowed herself to be pulled up against him, just as their instructor began barking out orders.

Bonnie and Damon exchanged another glance as their instructor once more started lecturing the other couples. In the last hour, the woman had tried more than once to find something to grill Damon and Bonnie about, but had so far been unsuccessful. Somehow, Bonnie and Damon moved with perfect fluidity together, their bodies melding both with the music and each other, the epitome of grace and precision.

It was because of this surprisingly perfect match that Damon found himself wondering where the heck the witch had learned to dance in the first place. From what he knew, most seventeen year olds didn't know how to do a traditional waltz. When his curiosity finally got the better of him and he asked her, Bonnie laughed.

"I've been dancing since I was six years old."

"Seriously?" Damon asked incredulously. Now that he thought about it, it explained her naturally fluid movement, the sway to her hips and her well toned physique.

"It's why I took cheerleading," she explained. "They didn't have a dance class at school, and Caroline was bugging me about how great my moves would look on the squad so…"

"You joined the pom-pom parade?" Damon finished for her.

She looked at him for a moment, and then conceded to laugh. "Basically." There was silence between them for a few moments before Bonnie looked up at him again and asked "What about you? When'd you learn? One long forgotten summer in '53?"

Damon chuckled. "Actually, my mother taught me. While I was still human."

For a moment, Damon feared Bonnie was going to pick up on the last part of that sentence. That it would lead them into an awkward conversation with her prying for answers to a past he had tried desperately to forget. But Bonnie Bennett did not disappoint. She just laughed.

"Damon Salvatore, cutting the rug in 1864," she grinned. "What I would've given to see that."

"Hey," Damon said with a laugh. "I didn't say I was any good when I was human. I'll admit, I've had to hone my skills over the years."

Bonnie regarded him with a coy smile and a raised eyebrow. "It sounds to me Salvatore as if you're letting on that you don't just waltz."

Damon responded with a chuckle as he told her, "I've broadened my horizons over the years. And yourself?"

Bonnie considered as they neatly changed direction. As they returned to their former steps she breezed off "Tango, waltz, salsa, swing, jive, freestyle, jazz, quickstep, cha-cha and belly dance. With a particular emphasis on Latin-American style."

For a moment, Damon could only stare at her. Then, he miraculously managed to choke out "Belly dance?"

Bonnie grinned, and raised their arms above them. Damon's eyes drifted downwards and caught sight of Bonnie's hips and stomach. Eyes wide, he watched her hips shift and her abdominal muscles roll in the single sexiest movement he had ever seen.

"Okay," he said tightly, voice seemingly stuck in his throat. "We have to sleep together now."

Bonnie laughed. "Not so fast Damon."

In a single fluid movement she was out of his embrace and he was holding her hand at arm's length. Chin resting on her shoulder, she regarded him with a sexy smirk as she said "Show me what you got Salvatore."

As Damon was never one to back down from a challenge, he mimicked her smirk. And despite her challenge, Bonnie couldn't help her slight exclamation as Damon yanked her towards him. She had barely touched his chest when his hands found hers, and he took a measured step back, forcing her to do the same as he raised their hands up. In one smooth movement he twirled her under his arms, and then at the same rapid speed pulled her flush against him. He'd hitched her right leg up over his hip, her face inches from his. She laughed as he dipped her backwards before pulling her sharply upwards, so that once again she was melded to him, her breath mingling with his.

But, before she even got the chance to get lost in their proximity, there was the sound of bustling footsteps and their instructor appeared at their side.

"No, no, no," she said, obviously going for authoritative and well-practiced, when both Bonnie and Damon could see she was gleefully cheering in her head at finally being able to prove herself better than the two of them. "We're doing a traditional waltz. It must be perfectly measured, no free-styling at all."

Bonnie and Damon gave identical sighs and eye rolls. They didn't seem to notice Elena and Stefan, who had been watching the two the whole time. Elena's expression was a combination of worry and outrage, while Stefan looked concerned and upset.

Regardless, Bonnie and Damon resumed their positions, grinning. Bonnie finally broke the silence with a laugh.

"Alright, I'll admit. That was pretty impressive."

Damon gave a victorious smirk as they resumed their waltz steps, and regarded Bonnie with a keen eye.

"And what about yourself Miss Bennett?" Damon inquired with an impish grin. "Anything else you've been hiding from me?"

Bonnie shrugged unconcernedly. "Not particularly. Well unless," she amended carelessly "You consider acting, singing and art to be _anything else_."

"You're into the arts?" Damon asked curiously.

He had always got the impression that his little witch was a model student, always focused on her studies. Looking back, he realized as a cheerleader and now as a witch who was just as bad-ass as he was, that didn't make sense at all. Bonnie cut into his thoughts as Damon tried to work out how he could possibly have been wrong – the apocalypse would have had to be bloody nigh for it to be comprehensible.

"If you knew half as much about me as you pretend to," Bonnie told him "then you'd know that school's never been that big a deal to me. I'm a cheerleader, remember?"

Damon chuckled, once again reveling in how it was possible that the witch was talking to him in this way, letting him hold her as he was (not that Damon was complaining AT ALL).

"Interesting Bennett," he finally said. "Looks like there's even more to you than I already guessed."

Bonnie smirked, and Damon felt her move closer towards him. She tilted her head upwards, regarding him through her lashes with an easy smile, touched with just a hint of a suggestive smirk.

"Well then," she said in a low, sultry voice that left Damon struggling for control. "Looks like you've got a challenge on your hands then, doesn't it Mr. Salvatore?"

Should Bonnie have encouraged him?

Probably not.

But it seemed that Damon Salvatore was inescapable. So if she was stuck with him, she may as well pick up a few tricks.

And as much as she didn't like indulging Damon in anything, she figured she wouldn't feel guilty in giving both of them something to enjoy. She would adopt Damon's philosophy of living every day like it was the last one, without having to give a damn about the consequences of your actions.

Although of course, Damon didn't exactly have a last day of his life and he didn't have to worry about the consequences of his actions because as far as Damon was concerned, they were none of his concern.

Screwed up, maybe. But if you can't beat 'em…

Well, she could beat Damon (to the point of death) but the meaning was all the same when it came to the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

* * *

I probably don't even need to ask for reviews, people are always so good at keeping up with them. Cheers to all my regulars.


	13. Sharing

Okay, so I know this update is a bit earlier than usual. But I am currently writing a Christmas Special. While I may not have out actually on Christmas (because the IB Diploma sucks and kills the holidays with homework), I hope to get it out not long after if I don't make that deadline. Don't worry about the New Year's Special, seeing as that one is already written. Anywya, reason for the early update is that there are some characters in the Christmas Special who haven't been introduced yet, so this is my one-shot that lets everyone meet Tyler's new wolfpack. They will feature in the later one-shots, so this is just to get them into the story. Of course, Bonnie and Damon are still and always the stars. Hope you enjoy. Killerkaiser xx

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Vampire Diaries but Christmas is only a few days away...

_Summary_: Damon doesn't share. Especially not with dogs

* * *

"How many mutts are we talking about here?"

Damon folded his arms and glared at Tyler, who rubbed the back of his head uneasily, looking slightly sheepish (an interesting expression for a werewolf). His eyes darted over towards Caroline, who stepped forward and said in an unusually quiet voice "Just one or two."

Damon's eyes narrowed.

"Okay, maybe three."

Tyler looked slightly fearful.

"Possibly four, but no more than that."

Damon's eyes stayed on the two of them for a long moment before he spoke, his voice deathly low. "Four new werewolves in Mystic Falls?"

"Look dude," Tyler said, finally moving forward. "I don't see why it's such a big deal."

Bonnie tried to hide her smirk at Damon's reaction to being called 'dude'. She said nothing however, as Damon rounded on Tyler, laughing scornfully.

"Well, _dude_," he started, and Tyler winced. "Considering that it takes one werewolf, no, wait, one _bite _from a werewolf to kill a vampire, that means that what, if there are three vampires here, am I right, and we now have five werewolves running around, if my working is correct, then that's what, almost two each? That about right?"

Tyler backed up slightly as Damon marched towards him, fists clenched, dangerous smile on his face. "And considering that I quite like being a _living _dead person, I say we cut our losses and just kill you right now."

"Damon," both Elena and Stefan snapped at the same time. Caroline took a step closer to Tyler.

"Just because Blondie was stupid enough to get you involved in all this doesn't mean we need to put up with you and the extensive list of problems you seem to bring on us. To be honest, I don't know what she sees in you," he finished with a pleasant smile.

Tyler opened his mouth, most likely to tell Damon where to shove it, and Caroline glared at Damon venomously. Bonnie was the only one not giving Damon dark looks, a noticeable change which Damon didn't miss. He turned towards his witch and asked her with a raised eyebrow "You gonna back me up here?"

"No," she said lightly. Damon pulled a face at her.

"The question is," Elena asked from where she was stood beside Stefan. "What are we gonna do about it?"

Before any of them could speak, Bonnie climbed to her feet and said smoothly "Well, that's kinda obvious isn't it?"

Judging by the looks of the others, it wasn't as obvious as she thought. She sighed at their obtuseness.

"We really don't have a lot of options here. If we don't go after them, a couple of weeks from now we're gonna have four new werewolves running around town, completely uncontrolled. And as you enjoy being technically alive so much," she cast a glance in Damon's direction "then we need to find them, explain what's happening, and get them all chained up before the next full moon."

Well, when she put it like that it all did seem a little obvious.

It was this that led, almost two weeks later, to find the Salvatore Boarding House becoming a dog shelter, as Damon so eloquently put it. After an intense shouting match between Bonnie and Damon, in which she had accidentally shattered every last piece of glass in the living room and Damon had effectively punched his fist through the wall and broken the door off its hinges, Bonnie had won out in letting the new wolves stay. Despite the fact that Damon was still pissed off at having the werewolves so close by, and therefore threatening what he seemed to think was his very valuable life, he hadn't been able to stay mad at Bonnie for long. She had been spending so much time trying to help out the wolves that Damon had barely seen her, and was in fact going through withdrawal. Damon however, was pleased to note that this wasn't a severe blow to his ego, since Bonnie seemed to be going through the same separation depression. Only difference was, Damon was much more vocal about it.

Now, Damon Salvatore openly voicing his desire for another human being who wasn't a heinous vampire bitch called Katherine may have _seemed _romantic, but in truth, when they were now housing a pack of werewolves as well as the regulars of Stefan, Elena and Caroline, Bonnie was beginning to consider that silencing spell she had found a few days ago in the Grimoire.

It didn't help that three of the four new werewolves were male, and had all agreed that while Elena was human and therefore boring, and no one dared go near Caroline for fear of Tyler's wrath, Bonnie was the hypothetical bone. Since she and Damon weren't officially together, there was fierce competition to impress her (as long as Damon wasn't in the room at that specific time).

River Collins was the only female of the pack. She was tall, sporting a model-like figure, tanned and with long dark brown hair that tumbled down her back even when she pulled her bangs out of the way. Of distant Asian descent somewhere in her family, she was undeniably gorgeous but had quickly made it clear that she wasn't to be messed with. In fact, the only person she tolerated the constant flirtation from was Christian (this didn't of course stop the others from trying).

Christian Stryker was tall, muscled but slim, with short blonde hair and a smile that could level half a city block of female population. Bonnie wasn't sure whether it was a werewolf thing, but they were all unbelievably hot (something Damon absolutely did not like her noticing) and Christian was the pinnacle of this. While he was most definitely into River, that didn't stop him flirting with Bonnie to make the female wolf jealous; he was a nice guy, but he was a jokester, a trickster, and had an unhealthy appetite for trouble.

This seemed to be a common trait amongst the pack, if their dangerous pursuit of Bonnie was any indication – the pursuit was now being called 'dangerous' since Damon had taken to the habit of threatening disembowelment to whomever so _looked _at Bonnie in any way other than platonic.

A regular receiver of this look was one Evan Knight, a tall, well-built wolf with curly dark hair and bi-polar disorder… well, not really but he had his public persona and then his real one. He made great use of his bad-ass attitude, which was used primarily to impress girls, but was otherwise, when not maintaining his image, loud, boisterous and a bit of an ass. Not only was he cocky as hell, but, like Damon in many ways, liked girls more than he should.

This trait seemed to be shared by all the wolves, as it was also apparent in Will Delgado. He was tall, well-muscled (just like all the wolves) with chiseled features and spiked blonde hair. Even though he was more mellowed out than some of the others, for example didn't have Christian's knack for trouble or Evan's rowdy nature, he had the same relentless interest in women that they all did.

Or at least, relentless interest in Bonnie.

And this did not diminish with the time the pack spent at the Salvatore household, which was why Bonnie winced at the sound of raucous calling coming from outside announcing the arrival of their guests. She had been in the kitchen, stirring up Wolfsbane with some other herbs in the hopes of making it more effective for the approaching full moon, when the doorway crashed open. Evan led the way, shortly followed by Will, with River shoving Christian through before her. Tyler and Caroline brought up the rear, their hands loosely linked together.

The noise got louder as the wolves realized Bonnie was in the kitchen, and Evan came forward to throw his arm around her shoulder.

"Well if it isn't our favorite witch. Watcha cooking up for us this time?"

Without turning from her counter-clockwise stirring, Bonnie said easily "If you don't move your arm in three seconds, it's gonna get broken."

Evan laughed, but didn't move his arm. "Damon?" he asked.

"Me."

Evan laughed even more loudly this time, and pulled her close as he said cheerfully "Oh, I like a girl with a bit of a bite."

"You want bite, give me a try."

Bonnie smiled at the sound of Damon's voice, politely threatening as he entered the kitchen. Evan quickly withdrew his arm from Bonnie's shoulder and took a step back. Damon moved silently across the kitchen to take his place at Bonnie's side, slipping his arms around her waist; Bonnie smiled, but said nothing at his selfish display.

"Now, I don't speak dog," Damon said courteously, ignoring the bristling wolves. "But I'll put this as plainly as I can."

With the whole pack watching, Damon bent down and captured Bonnie's lips in a hungry, possessive kiss. Bonnie smiled as his tongue forced her mouth open, and she was vaguely aware of some annoyed, and some awkward, looks passing between the wolves. When Damon pulled back, he had that familiar smirk on his face that didn't fade as he turned to the pack. They were looking at him darkly as he said carelessly "Stay away from _my_ witch."

After this particular scenario, while the werewolves didn't stop chasing after Bonnie, they made sure to do it more discreetly. They probably should have learned their lesson, but learning curves were learning curves, and the wolves had a bit of catching up to do when it came to the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

* * *

Okay, so now you've met the pack. They will be featuring in later one-shots including the Christmas Special which will be coming your way soon. And you know what they say... Christmas is a time of giving coughcough*reviews*coughcough...


	14. Spirit

Okay guys, so here it is: The Vampire Diaries Christmas Specials. And it's a long-one. I know that for some of you it' still Christmas, for others, Christmas has already passed and for som it's still to come, but it's all about the spirit of the season anyway. Hope you enjoy this one guys; it took ages, but the Bamon festive fics are worth it I like to think. Merry Christmas everyone. Killerkaiser xx

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Vampire Diaries, but I like to believe in Christmas magic...

_Summary_: Bonnie gets Damon to enjoy Christmas again

* * *

_On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…_ **the knowledge that I was doing Christmas this year whether I wanted to or not.**

"I hate Christmas."

Generally, this sort of comment wouldn't have surprised Bonnie in the slightest, considering Damon had a habit of making such statements without caring to give an explanation, even to his vampired-witch of a mate. However, considering he and Bonnie were currently strolling down the streets of Mystic Falls, hand-in-hand, ankle-deep in snow with the festive cheer of the Christmas spirit all around them… she had to chuckle.

"Of course," she laughed mockingly. "World peace, spending time with loved ones and all that _darn_ festive cheer." She raised an eyebrow at her eternal companion. "Why wouldn't you hate Christmas?"

It was Damon's turn to laugh. "Please, tell me you don't buy into all that festive cheer and peace in the world crap?" He brought one arm up to drape around Bonnie's shoulders, and shrugged. "Let's face it, Christmas is nothing more than economically viable social groups worldwide undermining secularity with supposedly good-valued pretenses, therefore ostracizing other religions, causing global segregation and essentially promoting what is nowadays nothing more than a commercialized stereotype."

If he was expecting Bonnie's jaw to drop and for her to bow down to his undeniable greatness, he was sadly disappointed. Or perhaps, not so disappointed considering he quite liked the fact that Bonnie never did what he expected and therefore kept him on his toes – her little habit for surprises had had some great results in the past.

Bonnie simply sighed and said "And here was me thinking it was all about presents."

Damon gave her a look, and she laughed.

"Look, I know what you're getting at," she told him with a shrug. "It's true that the original religious values and ways have been somewhat renounced over time as the economy's moved to the forefront and current markets have become more focused on consumerism, and yes," she rolled her eyes "everybody knows that December 25th wasn't actually the birth of Jesus anyway. But you're missing the point."

Bonnie seemed to be getting lost in her own tirade.

"Whether Christmas is about epitomizing the Christian religion or not, it doesn't deny that despite the falsified nature of the holiday's morals and the misrepresentation of what the so-called 'Christmas spirit' is all about," she threw in some mocking air quotes "it's still a fundamental part of modern society and its beliefs. Whether, as defined by their religion, people take part in the holiday or not, it's still about experiencing a sense of social unity. The people who don't believe in Christmas are still drawn into the festive spirit due to all the commercialism and simple mob psychology, and people who do take part in the holiday get to maintain their idealistic views in their belief that there's a time of year when people don't have to take responsibility for all the shit that goes on in the world, and can simply choose to base their values and actions on a façade of well-constructed materialism masquerading as seasonal spirit and religious devotion."

Managing to finish the sentence with minimal breaths, she turned to look at Damon and was rewarded with discovering that his mouth was hanging open in shock.

"Two words" she said, holding up the according fingers. "Don't. Mess."

After taking a moment to recover, Damon hooked his arm closer around Bonnie's neck and spoke into her ear. "Okay, snow or not, you're getting me really hot right now."

Bonnie laughed, and rewarded him by pressing her lips to his, teasing his mouth open with a smile as passersby threw them some dark, some envious looks. Drawing back, she laughed again and pulled herself closer to him.

"Besides," she said finally as Damon rested his head atop hers. "Are you sure you're not just saying all that stuff 'cause it's been over a decade since you actually had anyone around to share Christmas with?"

Damon snorted derisively. "Oh sure, and what do I get this time? My forehead-challenged brother and we all know spending Christmas with your real family is a terrible idea since it just leads to arguments round the table."

He ticked them off on his fingers.

"Then, there's the blonde without an off switch, who's part of a two for one special with a wolf who's head is so swollen," he lowered his voice conspiratorially "you could fit the turkey inside it. And then, because I love spending my holiday season in fear of my life, the dog comes free with an entire pack of were-mutts. Throw on top of that Elena, don't even get me started on her, and Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year."

"What about Anna and Jeremy?" Bonnie asked him curiously. "What have they done to you?"

Damon shrugged carelessly. "Their lack of loserness is somewhat overshadowed by the trouble caused by a certain judgy witch who has a tendency to not only own me verbally with that talented tongue of hers, but to do a lot more with it than that…"

His lips descended towards her throat and Bonnie chuckled. She angled her head towards his, making sure to leave him with access to her neck before whispering huskily "Well, that witch could end up giving you the best present ever, if you're willing to get into the Christmas spirit…"

She felt Damon grin against her skin. "Consider me off the naughty list."

As his lips moved upwards to catch hers again, she moaned and said "No, that you should stay on…"

* * *

_On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… _**the secret ingredients to Christmas cookies: Bennett witch.**

"What happened in here?"

Damon paused in the doorway, eyes roaming past the pots, pans and packets that littered the countertops, and instead focusing on the flour-covered witch at the centre of it all. Wooden spoon in hand, Bonnie stood before a bowl of what looked like mix for biscuits, with a series of grease-line trays surrounding her. She wiped a hand across her forehead, leaving a smear of white powder in its wake.

"Christmas happened." She gave Damon a look. "The time for cheer, festive joy and for evil vampire best friends to guilt you into doing all the Christmas cooking."

Damon smirked and moved into the kitchen. Bonnie picked up the bowl of dough and began mixing again. "It would appear," she said, scraping the spoon on the side of the bowl. "That being a witch and therefore being adept at making potions, means that you must, by default, be able to bake."

Looking thoughtful, Damon dipped his finger into one of the bowls on the countertop. Putting it to his lips, he tasted the dough and made an appreciative noise.

"It's good," he commented.

"Sorry to disappoint you." Damon's lips quirked upwards as Bonnie set down the bowl. "Whether it's good or not is irrelevant. Fact is, I have to feed everyone, and considering Tyler's friends eat, excuse the pun, like a pack of wolves, I have work to do."

"Well, can't you just wave your magic wand and be done with it?" Damon took a step closer, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear where the rest of it was scraped back in a rough ponytail.

"I find that offensive," Bonnie told him flatly.

Damon chuckled and reached his hand towards the bowl again. Bonnie tried to pull it from his grasp, but he managed to scrape his finger against the edge, catching some of the dough. To her surprise, Damon held his finger to Bonnie's lips with a smirk and said "Let me make it up to you."

His challenge was blatant, and Bonnie, even after all this time never one to back down from anything when it came to Damon Salvatore, grinned. Moving forwards, she closed her lips around Damon's finger, eyes trained on him as her tongue worked around his fingertip. She smiled as Damon's jaw dropped and his eyes practically rolled into the back of his head. She barely had time to draw back before Damon had grabbed a hold of the back of her head and crushed his lips to hers urgently. She was forced backwards towards the counter and as Damon's hand moved to curve around her waist, he successfully managed to knock the open packet of flour off the worktop.

Bonnie worked to regretfully force her lips from Damon's. "Um, Damon," she tried to say as his mouth moved down to her throat. "You just knocked my main ingredient all over the floor."

"Well then," Damon grinned, grabbing a hold of Bonnie's waist and pulling her towards the floor. "We better get down there and clean it up."

_

* * *

_

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… **a snowball in the face and the chance to beat the shit out of my brother.**

"Hey Stefan, what's that?"

Her best friend's husband turned towards Bonnie, his shoes kicking up snow from beneath him. They stood out on the snow-covered front lawns of the Salvatore Estate, Bonnie pointing off at something in the distance. He turned curiously to follow the direction of her finger.

"What's what?"

As he craned his head, trying to catch a glimpse of what Bonnie was pointing out, the vampire-witch cast a glance behind Stefan, where Damon was on the other side of the garden. Expertly stealthy, using Stefan as a shield, Bonnie levitated a snowball up from the ground, and while Stefan was still straining to see into the distance, Bonnie sent the offending snowball coursing through the air to hit Damon squarely in the back of the head.

She heard a noise from her vampire husband as the snowball made contact and saw him turning. Stefan was doing to the same, no doubt to ask Bonnie what imaginary object it was she had been pointing at and Bonnie acted quickly. Hurling another snowball with magic, she dematerialized so that when the snowball hit Damon in the face and Stefan turned, she had already vanished behind a snow drift a few meters away. As Damon furiously wiped snow from his face, he opened his eyes to see a bewildered looking Stefan alone before him. Stefan opened his mouth to explain, but didn't get the chance; Damon had already thrown himself across the garden on top of his brother.

By the time Caroline, Tyler, Anna, Jeremy and the wolf pack made it outside, Damon was busy forcing snow down Stefan's throat. They managed to pull the elder Salvatore off his brother but things spiraled downhill after another snowball came soaring out from behind the snowdrift. They all immediately scattered, and the teams seemed to form by themselves.

Bonnie, Damon, Tyler, Caroline, River and Christian were on one team, matched against Stefan, Elena, Anna, Jeremy, Evan and Will. Even though Stefan's team outnumbered Damon's with four vampires to three, Damon had three werewolves as opposed to Stefan's two, and Bonnie's magic gave them an advantage. Still, the bloody snowball battle waged for a good forty-five minutes before they surrendered and made their way inside.

It was as Bonnie trudged through the snow, just behind the others, that she was hit by something from behind. It was not a snowball however, but a fully-sized vampire seizing her around the waist and driving her into a conveniently located pile of snow.

Damon was smirking as Bonnie turned underneath him, shoving her sopping hair from her face incredulously. Before she could start at him however, he said idly "I know that it was you y'know. Who threw the first snowballs." He heaved a cheerfully regretful sigh. "So you realize you're gonna have to suffer."

Bonnie opened her mouth, but was stopped by Damon swooping down to steal a kiss. She let it linger, and when he pulled back, she smiled.

"I thought I was supposed to be suffering."

Damon laughed, a carefree sound. "You forget," he told her with a mischievous grin. "We're about to have sex in snow." Leaning down, his lips brushed her ear. "And you're gonna be on the bottom."

* * *

_On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…_**the firm knowledge that gift bags were invented so that you didn't have to go through all the crap with the wrapping paper.**

"No, Damon, you fold this here."

Bonnie attempted to demonstrate. Wearing a 'now you do it' expression on her face, she looked pointedly from Damon to the wrapping paper. In response, Damon gave her a polite smile and promptly ripped the wrapping paper in half.

Bonnie cocked her head at him with a flat look and Damon huffed "Why am I doing this again?"

Bonnie smirked, something she had learnt from her vampire mate. "Because I asked, and you can't possibly refuse me."

She smiled up at him, and Damon leant forward with his own suggestive smile. "And why is that?" he asked her slyly.

Bonnie's lips brushed his and she said lightly "Hmm, I have no idea."

Grinning, Damon moved forward again to capture her lips, but she ducked expertly out of his way. "Wrapping presents," she admonished.

Damon sighed.

"We have presents for pretty much everyone to wrap, since you wanted to leave actually buying the presents so late."

At her look, Damon held up his hands with an indignant "What?" Lying back on the living room floor with his hands behind his head, he looked sideways at his wife with a grin. "There were so many other things to be doing at the time."

At these words, his hands trailed suggestively up Bonnie's thigh which was conveniently located sprawled out next to him. Bonnie's lips quirked upwards against her will.

"And now you're paying the price," Bonnie told him, throwing a piece of wrapping paper at his head with vampire speed. "Because we have work to do."

She didn't get much further with her work than that however, because Damon pursed his lips and said "Hmm, we could. Or…" Bonnie gave a squeal as Damon grabbed a hold of her leg and pulled her down next to him, tight against his body. He did the 'eyebrow thing' as he suggested "…we could revisit those other things we were up to."

If Bonnie was planning to resist, he didn't give her a chance. His lips caught a hold of hers, and before she knew it, her body was betraying her yet again as she moaned. She felt Damon's weight on top of her, nothing now that she was a vampire, and couldn't help but writhe underneath him. His hands were just slipping around her waist when there was the sound of footsteps entering the living room.

"Hey guys," Elena said, clearly unaware what was going on. "I was just wondering if you'd finished… oh my god."

Irritated, Damon pulled his lips from Bonnie's and without turning to Elena growled "What?"

Bonnie bit her lip to stop from laughing.

"Oh… I was just… never mind… I'll check in later, I'm sure it can wait…" Elena's voice faded away as she made a hurried exit from the living room.

Bonnie let out her laugh at this point, and even Damon couldn't help but chuckle. He wasn't distracted for long however, because a moment later he was back to business, his lips on his witch's. The only thing he managed to growl out before he lost the ability to talk was "Next year, we'll save time and just buy gift bags."

_

* * *

_

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… **carpal tunnel.**

"This is stupid."

Bonnie breezed off Damon's comment with an offhand "You think everything to do with Christmas is stupid. We've had this conversation at least three times."

Damon snorted. "Yeah, but this is the stupidest yet. Sending Christmas cards was out of fashion back when _I _was human. There is absolutely no point in doing it now. Why can't we just send emails like normal people?"

Bonnie raised an eyebrow at him. "Do we even need to start a discussion on the realm of normal within this house?"

Damon granted her that one, and reluctantly went back to the Christmas cards in front of him. They were spread out on the desk, he at one end with his pile, Bonnie at the other end, far too far away for his liking. For some reason totally beyond him, sending hand-written Christmas cards was a Bennett tradition that had somehow survived the generations. Thanks to Elena and Stefan, who had said it was a good idea, Damon was now stuck signing card after card after card. He was fairly certain they didn't even know this many people, but was somewhat reluctant to ask, lest Bonnie use her powers to topple almost an entire shelf of books on top of him… again.

His mental tirade was broken off once again by Bonnie's voice. She sighed sadly.

"It's a shame. I was thinking after this we could do something that was a little more your speed but…"

At those words, and the sexy tone that crept into her voice, Damon perked up. It didn't last.

"If your hands are really aching as much as you say," she continued sadly. "I guess that you won't be able to manage... certain things."

Damon finished the rest of the cards so fast that his pen almost burnt a hole in the desk.

_

* * *

_

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… **the realization that mistletoe's not all that bad.**

"WILL SOMEONE GET THIS CRAP OUT OF MY FACE?"

The response to Damon's shout was stunningly non-existent, and he compensated by ripping the mistletoe off the overhead archway as he entered the Salvatore residence's living room. Everyone else, wisely, chose not to come out to see what the commotion was about, opting instead to stay out of his way.

Damon was pissed.

A few days ago, Bonnie had received word from a coven of witches living in New York. She had explained that there was an annual witch gathering of some sort every five years, and that she was required to attend. Damon had been all set for going with her, but had been told that vampires, especially Salvatore brothers, and especially especially eldest Salvatore brothers, would be unwelcome. Despite Damon's complaints, Bonnie had teleported off early yesterday morning. This left Damon at the Salvatore Boarding House with Elena, Stefan, Anna, Jeremy, Tyler, Caroline and the rest of the pack. In other words, in hell.

Someone had recently had the brilliant idea to put mistletoe up all over the house, a notion which repulsed Damon, who was a firm believer in that you didn't need some plant as an excuse to make out with someone in public. Especially if that someone happened to be a super-hot vampire witch goddess who also happened to be your wife.

Under normal circumstance, he could have dealt with the mistletoe. Made use of it even. But when it was everywhere around the house, and then all over town, and the Grill and practically invading every public and private place in all of Mystic Falls… it was just a constant reminder that Bonnie wasn't around.

Damon poured himself a drink from the crystal decanter on the side and knocked it back with a growl. Pouring himself another, he heard a laugh from behind him.

Before he could move, hands came up to cover his eyes. After a brief moment of battling with his natural instinct to lash out, Damon was able to focus on the scent permeating the air around him, and the feel of a lithe, firm body against his. He sensed more than felt her move closer and stretch upwards so that her lips brushed his ear. He could just imagine her smile as she said silkily "Miss me?"

That was when he felt something brushing his neck. Not her lips though. Something she was holding in her hand. He made to move, and her palms fell away from his eyes. He turned towards her.

Bonnie grinned, twirling the piece of mistletoe between her fingers.

_

* * *

_

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… **the opportunity to tell Tyler Lockwood and his pack not to mark their territory on the Christmas tree.**

"Hey, can you pass me that one up?"

Stefan grabbed the corresponding ornament and passed it up to Elena. She was standing on some steps and couldn't resist leaning down to kiss her husband as he handed the bauble to her. Damon and Bonnie, on the other side of the Christmas tree made disgusted faces, somewhat similar to the eye-rolling of Anna and Jeremy, while the pack joined in with a chorus of wolf whistles. Elena blushed but smiled at Stefan and hung the bauble on the tree.

It was a few days before Christmas, and in the spirit of the season, Caroline had convinced everyone to help out with the decorating. Bonnie and Damon had had better things to do, but Caroline was persuasive, especially with her Lockwood attack dog at the rear. Thus, they found themselves on one side of the tree, stringing along tinsel with annoyed expressions at the festive feel in the air.

"You've got a task force of dogs with you," Damon finally grumbled. "Can we go?"

"No," Caroline snapped, and returned to her decorating, her face morphing into an angelic vision of happiness at Tyler came up for behind her and slipped his arms around her waist. He rested his head on her shoulder and Caroline swatted his arm playfully, talking about needing to focus on the tree.

Despite his focus on the supremely happy couples, he caught the look Bonnie sent him. A slight quirk to her lips and a glint in her eye. Damon looked at her suspiciously.

"What?" he asked questioningly.

Bonnie smirk didn't fade. "Just looking at you," she said lightly. "All domestic and joining in the spirit of Christmas."

Damon snorted. "It's not exactly _joining_ when you're forced into it by five vampires and a wolf pack."

Bonnie gave him a knowing smile, and once more Damon was amazed that whether witch or vampire, Bonnie had the ability to keep him guessing, always one step ahead, something Damon was entirely not used to after so long. He looked at her suspiciously again.

"I know you don't mind it all really," she told him with a knowing smile.

Damon didn't dignify that with a response. Bonnie however, was still another step ahead. Moving at vampire speed, Bonnie hooked a long piece of tinsel around Damon's neck. She drew him forward, stepping slowly towards his body with a deliberately sultry movement. He grinned as Bonnie pulled herself up against him. There was barely any space between them and Damon's blood was already humming with the proximity. She tilted her head and grinned.

"I bet I could make you enjoy it."

_

* * *

_

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

**a reminder that I fucking hate carolers. **

Damon pushed Bonnie roughly against the wall, even though his hands communicated their reverence for her. Considering that as a vampire Bonnie was just as strong as he was, she returned the favor by whipping him round so that he was the one against the wall. As his back hit the hallway partition, he was driven so far in that it actually crumbled around him, creating an imprint as a hole. A picture next to them fell from its hanging, the glass shattering.

Bonnie pulled back from Damon's lips as they both laughed, and Damon took the advantage to kiss his way along Bonnie's collarbone.

Stefan, Elena, Jeremy and Anna were out getting food for the Christmas lunch. Caroline, Tyler and the wolf pack were off picking up some last minute decorations. This, finally, left Bonnie and Damon alone in the house.

And they were making great use of the time.

Damon's lips found Bonnie's again, hungrily, urgently. She responded at once, pushing her body up against his, her hand going around to grab the back of his neck, the other fisting his hair. It didn't stay still for long though: with Damon's hands running along the waistband of her jeans, Bonnie's soon found the hem of his t-shirt and slipped her own hand underneath. Damon moaned into her mouth and as her tongue brushed his bottom lip, his hands tightened on her hips. Her fingers worked expertly over his abs, just as they had done so many times, and yet she still had him falling apart. It was mutual though, as Bonnie threw back her head when Damon's lips moved down to her neck. He whirled them round and they ended up snapping the legs of a table and tipping it over. The two vampires smiled, lips still on each other, and Damon pressed Bonnie's lithe form up against the wall. His hand on his wife's lower back, she arched up against him, his palm digging into the wall as he struggled to hold back.

Just as he was about to throw all pretense of control out the window, the doorbell rang.

Both vampires froze, foreheads against each other, as they listened for sounds from outside. The others wouldn't have rung the doorbell, meaning this was unexpected company. After a moment, Damon breathed "Don't answer it."

"It could be something important," Bonnie said, torn. "Something could be going on."

"Then definitely don't answer it."

Despite his protests (not to mention her own body's) Bonnie extracted himself from her and moved towards the door. Damon shadowed her close behind. Pulling open the front door, Bonnie was met with an unexpected (and highly unwelcomed) sight.

On the porch, a group of Christmas carolers burst into song.

From behind her, she felt Damon stiffen. Looking up at him, she saw his eyes dark. He leant down and whispered in her ear "Just let me kill them now."

Bonnie gave him an admonishing look, hiding the temptation in the idea. "We're not killing carolers on Christmas Eve," she told him in a low voice.

Damon considered for a moment. "Okay then," he said as an idea occurred to him. The carolers continued singing obliviously. "How about we bring them in for a snack."

Before Bonnie could open her mouth outrageously, Damon hurriedly continued "Not to kill. Just to feed. We take some blood, get them to shut up and then send them on their way, with the compulsion to never come back to this house ever again."

It was a testament to how much Bonnie had changed that she didn't slap Damon or shout at him, but instead, after a moment of consideration, said quietly "How long 'til Elena and Stefan get back?"

Damon checked his watch. "I say we got half an hour."

Bonnie's eyes darted to the carolers, who were still singing. Her eyes went to Damon again.

"Why not? It's Christmas."

_

* * *

_

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

**this is between me and Bonnie.**

"What are we doing? You know I don't like not being kept in the loop."

Bonnie chuckled, not removing her hands from where they were covering Damon's eyes. She grinned as she teased "This'll be worth it."

Generally, Damon had no problems whatsoever with Bonnie waking him in the middle night – on the contrary, this was a common event and one Damon always enjoyed immensely. But for her to wake him with a lingering kiss and then leap out of bed before he could get a hold of her… that was just rude.

Nonetheless, Bonnie had simply told him that she had a surprise for him, but he had to trust her. Trust her with his life he did, so Damon had allowed her to cover his eyes and lead him downstairs, even though he wasn't silent about it. Their ability to communicate to each other with their minds, while generally completely open to him was humming with what was almost a soft static; Damon suspected Bonnie was responsible. He couldn't use the link to read her thoughts, and neither could she his, but he was normally able to get at least a sense of what she was thinking, or a stray thought that escaped her.

But the bond was silent now, and while it frustrated him, he also had to admit it was exciting.

"Are we there yet?" he whined playfully.

Bonnie laughed quietly, steered him around a corner and then drew to a halt. He stopped and was rewarded with his eyes being uncovered.

"Surprise."

Damon eyed the stocking he had been placed in front of suspiciously. It hung over the fireplace, undecorated, and yet also the only one there. He turned to look at Bonnie curiously. She was grinning.

Cautiously, he stepped towards the stocking and, using one finger only, pried it open at the top. He looked inside. Whatever was in the stocking must have intrigued him, because he looked at Bonnie, then back to the stocking, before reaching in and pulling out the object inside.

For a moment, there was silence. And then…

"It's very nice, but I'm not sure it'll fit."

Damon dangled the top half of the garment by its strap. There was so little of all the other parts, it was the only bit of it he could hold.

Bonnie was smirking at him. His eyebrows rose as he looked from her to the piece of Christmas lingerie dangling from his fingertips. But she could see the lust flaring behind his eyes and sensed the tightening in his chest. She stepped towards him.

Taking the lingerie lightly from his hand she held it before him with a sexy smile. Damon was speechless. Bonnie raised her own eyebrows.

"Told you you'd like Christmas if you gave it a shot."

**

* * *

**

_On __the __third __day __of __Christmas__, __my true love gave to me…_** a meal surrounded by dogs… literally.**

"OKAY, I GET THAT AS WOLVES YOU HAVE YOUR EXCUSES, BUT SERIOUSLY?"

The outraged look Elena gave was lost on the wolves, who were all too focused on picking up food that hadn't been stepped on or stuck to walls in the aftermath of their food fight. It was Christmas day and they had all settled down for Christmas lunch – Elena had only stepped out for a few moments, to grab some knives to cut the turkey and had returned to find her immaculate dining room completely trashed. Caroline was looking slightly amused and yet trying to hide as she pulled cranberry sauce out of her hair; Anna and Jeremy were the same, Anna's vampire husband picking stray pieces of potato from her shoulder. Bonnie and Damon, sat opposite each other, didn't bother to hide their sense of hilarity, neither of them also bothering to begin pulling food from their clothes and hair.

Many people may have questioned why Bonnie and Damon weren't sat next to each other. Well, simply, Elena had tried to be cunning and failed. She should leave that to the vampire and the vampire-witch. Elena had attempted to lay the table so that the least arguments could occur, and to keep trouble to a minimum.

Bonnie and Damon, naturally, had been separated.

But considering that River couldn't sit next to Christian, and yet Christian still wanted to be near River, even though he needed to be near Tyler (to keep him under control) and that Will and Evan should probably be separated, along with Tyler and Caroline wanting to sit next to each and the same for Elena and Stefan and Anna and Jeremy… well it had gotten complicated.

Now, Stefan sat at one end of the table, Caroline at the other. Elena was on Stefan's left, with Jeremy opposite her. Jeremy could see Anna, who was sat across the table in the seat next to Elena's. Since Anna could handle Damon, she was sat on one side of him. Bonnie was opposite her husband (and Bonnie reckoned they had underestimated how much trouble they could cause even when not sat next to each other), but had unfortunately been caught with Will on her left and Evan on her right (Elena should have planned that better). On Damon's left was River, who was sat one seat down on the opposite side from Christian. She had Tyler next to her, opposite Christian to keep him in check, and Tyler got to sit next to Caroline who was at the end of the table.

Elena had thought that this would solve all of her problems.

She was wrong.

"Who started it," she snapped at the guests sitting around the table. They all stayed noticeably silent.

Bonnie and Damon exchanged a glance, and Damon felt Bonnie's thoughts brush his conscious.

"_You gonna tell her, or should I?"_

Damon's eyes went to Elena, who was positively fuming, and then looked back to Bonnie.

"_Maybe later."_

Bonnie followed Damon's gaze to watch Elena shout at Evan after he made a comment when he should have kept his mouth shut.

"_Yeah, maybe later."_

They were distracted by Stefan touching Elena's hand and telling her that it really wasn't that big of a deal (he had somehow managed to escape the food fight unscathed). Elena smirked at him, and responded by pouring the contents of the gravy dish over her husband's head.

The table erupted into cheering and laughter, although Elena was screaming playfully when Stefan grabbed a hold of her, sauce dripping from his head. This move of course simply started up the food fight all over again.

Seeing how well everything was going, Damon and Bonnie decided not to tell Elena that they had started the food fight as a form of rebellion. Elena should have known better than to not let them sit together. But now, it seemed Bonnie and Damon had actually improved the dinner. River and Christian were chasing each other around the table, battling it out with ladle's, but Bonnie was fairly sure that when he grabbed the female wolf around the waist and, picking her up, swung River around, his Christmas had just got a whole load better. Judging by River's expression and the private smile and whispered words she gave him, hers just had as well.

Not that Bonnie and Damon were taking credit for hooking Christian and River up, but the smiles they gave one another proved that they thought they should take credit anyway.

Clearing the table was a difficult feat considering:

1. Tyler and Caroline were all over each other (apparently she tasted like bacon-wrapped sausages)

2. Will and Evan were attempting to revive the food fight

3. Christian and River had vanished

4. Anna and Jeremy were the only ones helping

Still, despite the difficulties and somewhat unorthodox nature of their Christmas lunch, Bonnie couldn't help but grin brilliantly later, when she and Damon lay in bed together, and with a kiss he told her "Best Christmas ever."

_

* * *

_

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… **a cooler present than Stefan's.**

Damon followed Bonnie and the rest of the crowd out of the front door and towards the garage. His hand loosely twined with Bonnie's he looked at her and asked "My present's cooler than Stefan's right?"

Bonnie laughed and tugged him forward. "You need to see it before you can say that."

"So it _is_ cooler than Stefan's."

Bonnie said nothing, and drew him forward to where all the others had gathered.

Following on from Christmas lunch, they had all gotten ready to begin sharing presents. Exchanging gifts had, even by Damon's standards, been enjoyable. Of course, as brothers, anything Stefan got Damon was entitled to. Since Elena just about lived in their house, Damon could make use of her things as well. And if you nicked the wolves' stuff on a full moon, it wasn't like they were going to notice. So really, Damon's present haul this year was pretty impressive.

But apparently, the best was yet to come. Damon's enquiries about Stefan's present had been because his brother had gotten a whole car to re-model and play with. Damon hadn't bothered paying attention to what type of car it was (if it wasn't fast, he didn't care) but Stefan was going to rebuild it from scratch and was beside himself (which was impressive considering his usual I'm-oh-so-serious-and-oh-so-boring demeanor).

But Damon's thoughts on this matter were abruptly cut off when Christian and Will drew back the doors to the garage.

And Damon's mouth fell open.

Standing before him, reflecting the glistening snow of its brilliantly shining body, was a motorcycle.

And not just any motorcycle.

The most beautiful motorcycle in the world.

It was a variation of the MV Augusta F4CC, black and silver. From the looks of it, it had had a few custom adjustments made, which would have cost a fortune, on top of the bike's actual price which Damon cared not to mention. It's sleek design, killer engine and all-round awesomeness made this bike one of a kind. He turned to look at Bonnie in amazement.

There wasn't much that blew Damon Salvatore away, and he wasn't exactly a great advocator of human kindness, but still…

Bonnie smiled at him.

"Merry Christmas."

Damon was still speechless, and the wolf pack laughed – Damon Salvatore reduced to silence = classic. After half an hour outside, ogling at the bike and its features, they finally began to amble back indoors. Only Damon stayed outside, hands in his pockets, eyes on the bike. He smiled when he felt a pair of slim arms slip around his waist, and a chin on his shoulder.

"You like it?" Bonnie asked him as he turned her to face him.

Damon didn't answer. Instead, leaned down and caught her lips in his. This kiss wasn't urgent, wasn't hungry, wasn't rough. It was sweet, adoring, lingering, Damon simply savoring the moment.

Savoring her.

When he finally pulled back, Bonnie was smiling gently.

Damon grinned at her. "You know why I wanted this bike in the first place?" he asked her, a glint in his eyes.

Bonnie shook her head, and Damon's grin widened.

"'Cause I remember you said you thought motorcycles were hot."

_

* * *

_

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… **I already had Bonnie Bennett, what the hell else would I need?**

"So what did you think?" Bonnie's voice broke the night silence. Of course, Damon always welcomed Bonnie's voice. Or anything of Bonnie's to be honest. She titled her head up towards him. "Christmas back on your good list?"

His lips quirked upwards, but for a moment he didn't speak. It had been about half an hour since they had last spoken. They were lying on the rooftop of the Salvatore Boarding House, Damon's hands idly tracing lines up Bonnie's thighs and over her hips as she nestled against him. He didn't know the exact time but guessed it was near midnight.

Christmas was coming to an end.

It was strange: he didn't think that after everything he would be that bothered by it. And yet, he couldn't escape the sense of sadness and lingering disappointment as he realized Boxing Day would soon be upon them.

Realizing that Bonnie was waiting for his answer, Damon turned his lips and caught hers in a soft kiss. It surprised her, but she welcomed it. When he pulled back, he was smiling. His eyes alight.

"Best Christmas ever," he told her.

The way Bonnie's face lit up was like nothing he'd ever seen before. He felt tempted to tell her that to be honest, anything Bonnie did was perfection, and after all the effort she had put in this year, to make it something for him to remember, it would be imprinted in his memory for the rest of eternity.

But he didn't need to tell her that. She would already know. Because Bonnie and Damon were two beings, completely unique, made for no one but each other.

Damon didn't deserve Bonnie. And yet was the only one for her.

Bonnie shouldn't want Damon. Except there was no one else.

Bonnie Bennett and Damon Salvatore. Call them soul mates. Call them yin and yang. Call them a perfect match. It didn't matter. Because whatever they were, they were it together.

Damon smiled down at Bonnie and brushed a lock of hair from her face, his fingertips just brushing her skin. "You know there's something better than Christmas though right?" he said, his eyes glinting as he gazed down at her.

Bonnie knew that for Damon, who didn't do romantic confessions and sappy lines, this was as close as she was gonna get. She grinned.

"Yeah, I know I am." She pulled him a bit closer. "But I just want you to say it anyway."

Damon did the next best thing and kissed her.

They say Christmas is about the spirit of the season.

The joy of giving.

Being with loved ones.

It's not.

It's about the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

* * *

So... the New Year Special is up next, although that's just a normal length one. Hope you will enjoy it anyone. I could say something hear now about reviews being gifts, but that one's kinda obvious sine it's the season of giving and all. Merry Christmas anyway.


	15. Explosion

Okay, so here's the New Year's Special as promised. All the best in 2011 to everyone. Killerkaiser xx

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Vampire Diaries, but I've got another year now to keep trying to get it...

_Summary_: Bonnie, Damon and some fireworks (both literal and metaphorical)

**

* * *

**

**10…**

The roofed tiles of the Lockwood mansion dug into her side, but considering she was practically lying on top of Damon, Bonnie didn't really notice. She smiled.

It was December thirty-first and the Lockwoods had held yet another huge party to celebrate. Yet again, it had been attacked by vampires.

Bonnie, Damon, Stefan, Caroline and Tyler with help from the pack had managed to keep it quiet, with minimal damage and attention. The upstairs drawing room was now trashed, and Bonnie was in serious need of a seamstress, but otherwise they were all okay.

It was this that found Bonnie and Damon lying on the roof of the Lockwood mansion at eleven fifty-five, Bonnie's dress hanging off one shoulder, ripped and torn, Damon's shredded jacket discarded. The stars above them shined brilliantly, and the sound of the guests waiting around for the fireworks to begin was just a murmur in the background.

**…9...**

Bonnie laughed as Damon continued in earnest.

"I'm serious. You know in the movies there's always the girl who falls for the hero, the troubled 'good guy'. But then there's always the hot yet misguided best friend with a dark side who falls for the villain even though she knows it's wrong."

Bonnie smirked up at him. "So, what, you're the tragically misunderstood bad guy?"

He shrugged carelessly with an easy smile and said "More like just the bad guy but essentially, yeah."

He joined Bonnie in her laughter. Finally, as their chuckles subsided, Bonnie swung herself sideways, pulling herself on top of him. Welcoming the contact, she propped her head easily on Damon's chest and met his gaze. She saw adoration in his eyes as he looked at her.

**…****8…**

"I was wondering though…" she said, and Damon's hand came up to brush a stray lock of hair behind her ear as he asked "What?"

"Well, Stefan's supposed to be the smart brother right?"

Damon gave a sound of mock indignation and Bonnie giggled.

"I mean…" she clarified. "You're the devious one."

This abated him and Bonnie continued.

"How long do you think it's gonna take them to find us?"

**…****7…**

Damon shrugged. "Whether Stefan's quick on the uptake or not, it won't matter, he won't reach us in time. Besides, his _enormous_ forehead tends to get in the way of him seeing things."

Bonnie laughed, despite herself before asking him "And what about Elena? You realize she's probably looking for us. And when she finds us, we're never gonna hear the end of it, considering we're supposed to be down there celebrating, acting _normal_. " Bonnie shuddered.

He laughed, and brushed it off with an easy "Would it matter?"

Bonnie shrugged her shoulders slightly, playing with the button on Damon's shirt. "I dunno. They're both gonna be pretty pissed."

"Again," Damon said, catching her chin between his fingers and tilting her head up towards his. "Would it matter? Nothing they do is gonna keep me away from you, so whether we're supposed to be social or not, why waste time thinking about it? I am being social. Just with you."

At his words, Bonnie smiled. He smiled in return, and naturally, as if they had been doing it forever, they leaned towards each other.

And as always, the world around Bonnie ignited.

**…****6…**

She knew that kissing Damon would never change: it would always set the air around Bonnie on fire, and she would never get enough. If the way Damon's lips moved against hers were any indication, he felt the same; his actions were, after all, more honest than his words. Explosions went off all around her, and fireworks raced through her body, setting it humming. One hand came up to Damon's chest while the other slipped underneath the white fabric of his shirt. In response, Damon pulled Bonnie over so she was straddling him, and his hand ghosted up her thigh, pushing away the fabric from the slit in her dress. He cupped her neck from behind, her hair spilling over her face as their lips moved in perfect time, created for each other. Heat erupted from every point his skin touched hers. Everything around her was a swirl of color, shooting across her eyes.

And the fireworks hadn't even started yet.

**…****5…**

When air became a necessity for Bonnie, she drew away, a smile on her face. Damon's face mirrored hers and he said with a mischievous smirk "Who needs fireworks, huh? Looks like we can make some of our own."

At Damon's words, an idea hit her like a bolt of lightning, accompanied by the growing thunder of something she'd forgotten.

Damon sensed the sudden change and looked at her questioningly as she said excitedly "It completely slipped my mind. I have something to show you."

**…****4…**

Without another word, she slipped from his frame and scrambled across the rooftop to the edge, knowing he would follow her. Standing there, overlooking the guests, she felt Damon's arms loop around her waist, head resting on her shoulder. Holding out her hands, she couldn't see Damon, but knew his eyes would be on her upturned palms. He waited and he sensed her go still, focused. His enhanced hearing picked up the sound of her heart slowing down, and he sensed an electricity race through her blood, setting it alight.

In her hands, fire exploded into life.

**…****3…**

She felt Damon start, but smiled when his arms stayed around her. The fire in her hands blazed with a fierce light and she grinned. The fire flickered from blue, to purple, to red, green, silver, more and more. Sparks exploded into life, a mini-firework display in her very hands. From below, cheers went up from the guests, who believed this was the start of the firework display. Damon laughed, and she could sense his wonder. Eventually the lights dimmed, dancing across the surface of her skin and the fire returned to its usual burning colors. A few more seconds and the flames fizzed out, leaving Bonnie glowing.

She turned slowly to Damon, a gentle smile on her lips. He stared at her in amazement: fire was one thing, but to control it like that… Damon was struggling to find anything to say. Finally he settled for a laugh.

"Okay, now we definitely don't need fireworks."

**…****2…**

Bonnie caught his laughter, and was still giggling when he looked down at her, one eyebrow raised in an impish fashion. She regarded him with smirk as he said smoothly, drawing her towards him "Still… wanna create some more?"

In response, Bonnie kissed him.

And as always, she saw fireworks.

Sure, it was New Year's Eve, not to mention the firework display had started and yes, she could have even conjured them herself… but details were totally irrelevant in the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

**…****1**

Happy New Year everyone, bet it'll be a good one. Plenty of fun and plenty of reviews...


	16. Facade

Okay, so since we've been having a fair few one-shots in which Damon & Bonnie have been together, this one takes us back a bit, to the point when Bonnie & Damon still hated each other. Of course, while Bonnie may be trying to kill him, Damon is still realizing that a crazy, psycho witch out for his blood is actually pretty hot. So here we are, heading back to a bit of Bonnie/Damon conflict and the UST that we all love so much. Killerkaiser xx

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Vampire Diaries, but my overactive imagination is just as good...

_Summary_: Bonnie isn't the scared little witch for Damon to mess with anymore

* * *

"Wow Caroline, you look great."

Stefan smiled at her as she turned towards him, beaming.

"Yeah I thought so too," she laughed with a light shrug; Stefan chuckled.

She was wearing a short, form-fitting wrap-around red dress, one shoulder with a gold clasp at her waist. Her long blond hair was loose, her shoes a pair of dark ankle-boots. She was stood in the centre of the Salvatore living room, masquerade mask in hand, waiting for everyone else to be ready.

Now, generally, there was no way Caroline would have been the first to be ready for any party. But she had been preparing for the last three hours, so she'd had a bit of a head start. Stefan himself was wearing a tuxedo, mask also at the ready as they waited for the starting hour of the ball to arrive.

The Lockwood's Masquerade Ball was one of the biggest events of the year in Mystic Falls, meaning there was a good chance that any one of Katherine's minions would make an appearance. They only had to hope Katherine didn't turn up herself, or people would start to question why there were two Elena's running around. Stefan had already tried to convince Elena to stay at home, but she had flat-out refused, and when Damon couldn't be bothered to back his brother up, Stefan had relented.

After all, as Elena had pointed out, as one of the biggest parties of the year, people would notice if there were certain individuals not in attendance.

However, certain individuals were more enthusiastic about it than others; especially those particular teenage witches who had been press-ganged by certain dark-haired homicidal vampires into going, so that their exceptionally magical talents could be harnessed.

"Are Elena and Bonnie almost ready to go?" Stefan asked Caroline after a few moments.

She took a seat as she said "They should be down in a minute."

"Less that that," came a voice from behind them. Stefan turned to see Elena in the entranceway, and his eyes glowed.

She wore a short, dark blue dress, horizontally crinkled, with thin silver chains instead of straps; this was coupled with a pair of silver sandals with ties up to her knees. She had curled her hair and left it to spiral loosely around her face.

"Elena. You look gorgeous," Stefan told her in reverence as he took her hand.

She smiled, eyes sparkling at her vampire boyfriend. "Thanks."

"Okay we get it," Damon said as he strolled into the room, similarly clad in a tuxedo, hanging loosely open. "She looks great, Blondie looks great, I _certainly_ look great. Can we move past this and leave?"

"We're just waiting for Bonnie," Caroline told him with a dark look.

Giving a dramatic sigh, Damon lifted his head and yelled at the top of his lungs "Hey Sabrina! Get your ass down here or I'm gonna have to come up there and carry you down here myself, clothed or not!"

He grinned as everyone else in the room shot daggers at him, until he heard a smooth voice from behind him.

"No need to shout."

He turned to see Bonnie leaning against the entranceway, arms folded, already changed, with her mask in her hand.

And Damon's mouth dropped open.

Bonnie's dress was similarly short, strapless. It was completely form-fitting, hugging every perfectly defined curve and showing off her long, flawless legs. It was a shimmering grayish-silver color, with swirling black trim along the bottom. A section had been cut from the front, a line down the middle stopping just below her bellybutton. Apart from the criss-crossing black lace, underneath her smooth dark skin was visible; the gap itself was also lined with curling black trim. As Bonnie strode easily past him, Damon saw the back of the dress was designed like a corset, with an area of black-trimmed crossing straps running down her spine. Her hair was loosely curled, her eyes rimmed with kohl. The shoes she wore had a thick strap around the ankle, platforms and a slim, stiletto heel; the main body of the shoe was like a boot apart from the peep-toes; they were black and gray, like her dress.

She looked incredible.

And damn did Damon and Bonnie know it.

Bonnie cast him a careless glance as she moved past, and it was Stefan who finally broke the silence.

"So, um, I guess we better get these out to the car." He gestured to the box of stakes and assortment of other weapons, courtesy of Alaric, that they were taking with them.

Caroline and Elena, finally pulling their gazes away from Bonnie and Damon, came forward to help him move the box, and a few moments later, Bonnie and Damon were left alone in the living room.

After a moment of consideration Damon said smoothly "Not bad witch."

Bonnie spoke with the slightest hint of a smile. "Likewise."

"Really?" Damon asked in wary disbelief, not willing to even consider that Bonnie may be complimenting him.

"Of course," Bonnie said, elusive smile turning mocking. "You'll look much better with the mask on."

With that, she moved to brush past him, but Damon caught her wrist.

"All right," he spoke in her ear. "I get it. You're still pissed because I killed the Wolfman. But Mason Lockwood was the _enemy_." He all but hissed the last word. "And like it or not, you're gonna have to put up with the way things work around here."

He shoved her harshly away from him and as she faced him, her expression blank, Damon folded his arms across his chest.

"So, time to be honest."

He took a few steps closer, but she didn't back away, or change her expression. Damon looked down at her.

"Your little witch voodoo. Leveling the wolf like that… impressive. So I wanna know… just how much power _have_ you got bubbling under the surface?"

Bonnie didn't answer, only regarded him with cold silence. Damon ignored this and began to circle her.

"Let's be honest here. From what we've seen, your powers aren't exactly extraordinary. You keep telling us you can't do things, you can't make visions come to you at will and generally you just don't pack that much of a punch."

He paused and then turned on her, eyes narrowed.

"But that little trick, the one where you made my head explode and set me _on fire_… Where did that come from?"

Again, Bonnie didn't speak. But this time, Damon was through playing with her. Before she could react, he had one hand around her throat, face pressed up to hers, eyes glittering with venom.

"You almost killed me _witch_," he hissed. "So now you're gonna tell me how the hell you pulled it off, before I return the favor."

For a moment Bonnie clawed uselessly at the hand around her throat, before finally meeting his deadly gaze.

"You wanna know what I'm capable of?" she ground out.

Damon's only response was a tight smile.

It was the only response Bonnie needed.

This wasn't like the sharp pain in his head from repeated aneurysms. This was pain _everywhere_.

Every nerve in his body was on fire. It took a moment for it to register, but then he felt the distinct agony of her powers. A few more seconds and his legs would've collapsed underneath him, sending him to his knees. As it was, he didn't get the chance because Bonnie gave an easy flick of her wrist and he was thrown across the room, the thick carpets doing nothing to soften the blow of his landing. He was barely aware of the floor underneath him, and even less aware of Bonnie settling down next to him.

Only when she drew away some of the pain did his awareness of the world around him return. There was still a painful burning present, and he struggled to raise his eyes to meet Bonnie's. When she spoke, Damon had to work hard to make it through the haze of pain to hear her.

"Let's be honest, shall we?" she mocked him, her face cold, serious. "I don't trust you. But right now, we're stuck together. And as long as I have to work with you, I can't kill you. But you need to understand how this works."

Bonnie leaned over him, one hand gently brushing down the side of his face: the skin there prickled painfully. "You don't know anything about me. And you're not going to. Because as long as there's a chance we're gonna end up killing each other, then you're never gonna know what I'm truly capable of. 'Cause that's the only edge I have. So… yes, you're right: I'm much stronger than I've let on. But giving away my powers is like giving away the game. It's better to have you underestimate me… it makes killing you so much easier."

In an instant, the pain was gone and Damon was gasping for air. A slight, vicious smirk graced Bonnie's lips as she told him "The only thing you need to know Damon, is that I _am_ strong enough to end you. And I'll enjoy doing it."

Damon's eyes were murderous, but he didn't have time to act – she would have gotten to him first. This time however, it was Stefan who interrupted. He came into the living room, obviously having caught the last of the conversation. He took one look at Bonnie, sat next to Damon, and turned to her confused.

"What are you doing Bonnie?"

Bonnie smiled and straightened. "Damon and I were just clearing something up. But I think he's got it now."

She climbed to her feet, and cast a smirk in Damon's direction. "Right Damon?"

Damon was visibly shaking from where he was struggling onto all fours, and when he rose his head, his blue eyes glittered with fury.

Bonnie simply smiled.

Smiled and pulled her masquerade mask into place, brushing past Stefan with an easy "Are we ready to go then?"

Later, Stefan asked his brother why Bonnie had been sending Damon mocking smiles the whole night. Stefan asked about the dance Bonnie and Damon had shared, with what sounded very much like a cross between flirtation and threatening on Damon's part. And then why Bonnie had been teasing Damon the whole night, and why Damon had been torn between wanting her, and loathing her.

Damon had refused to answer him.

His words were that it was complicated.

Almost as complicated as the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

* * *

Ah I love bad-ass Bonnie. And pissed-off Damon. Honestly, just gotta love them in general. Like reviews... gotta love reviews...


	17. Eternity

Okay, so the style of this one is a little different, not so much a literal scene between them but some more internal stuff. Hope you enjoy it anyway. Just to let you know, I will be updating this coming Friday, but the week after I am in London so I may be a day or two late with the next chapter. I hope I'll be able to make a normal upload, but just in case I don't, just letting you all know. Cheers. Killerkaiser x

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything, but if I did not only would I own all the characters, but I would also own other things like Cara from Legend of the Seeker, Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts & Jarvis (yes, I was watching the Iron Man films yesterday)

_Summary_: Bonnie's eternal life was always in question, and yet didn't need to be

* * *

He had seen it happen.

Over and over again.

Sometimes it was the same. Other times, it would be something new.

Sometimes he saved her. Other times he didn't.

Sometimes she joined him in the eternity of vampirism. Other times, he found a way to join her, in the eternal silence of death.

He had seen her make the change in every way possible. Seen her die during the attempt, seen her rise with a smile on her face and a glint of forever in her eye. Sometimes it was during a battle: she would be injured, and he would race to save her in time. Other times, she would sit beside him, tell him she was ready. He would kiss her lips once, and snap her neck. She would later wake, feed and she would drink in her first taste of eternity.

Sometimes, it was a nightmare. Other times, a dream.

It was forever either way. As a vampire, or dead. They would be the same. For eternity.

* * *

The first time, he lost her.

He remembered forcing his blood down her throat, snarling at Stefan that he didn't die, and Bonnie wasn't allowed either.

Taking a hold of her shoulders, so hard it bruised. Shaking her, shouting, begging, pleading. But she didn't wake up. She never woke up.

The first time, Bonnie bolted awake in bed the second after he did. She took a hold of him, bewildered as he held her close, frantically whispering into her ear. She soothed him, allowed herself to be held in his arms for the rest of the night and not fall asleep until he did.

She did the same the next time.

Every time he bolted awake, yelling, frantic, she was there, comforting him, repeating the same words over and over.

Eventually, he would find her awake already, having been watching him. She would smile sadly as he ran his hands reverently over her face, memorizing every feature and she would reassure him silently that it was okay, she was here, she was safe.

She was always there.

* * *

Sometimes, he saved her.

She would wake to find him with his arms around her, lips at her shoulder. As she turned to face him, the relief would be evident in his eyes as he remembered that she was okay, that he hadn't been too late. That he had seen her eyes open, taken her flawless hand. She would smile and take his hands in her own. Tell Damon she loved him. He would smile too, and answer the same way they always answered those three words.

'Yeah, whatever'.

* * *

Sometimes, he joined her.

She would slip away from him. He would lose her. And he would lose himself.

He always found a way. Sometimes, Stefan had mercy on him and put the stake through Damon's chest himself. Sometimes, it would be Alaric. Other times, he would find another vampire, pick a fight. Stand there as the stake pierced his flesh.

And he would smile.

* * *

Sometimes, she chose it.

It didn't matter what she did. She could overdose. They could steal drugs from the hospital. Damon himself could snap her neck. Either way, she would smile. She would drink his blood as a gift. There would be no fear in her eyes at the prospect of death.

After all, what was one death in comparison with an eternity of living?

He would kiss her lips a final time. Smile in return.

She would die.

And then, she would live.

* * *

She always knew. Somehow, Bonnie always knew.

When he had the bad dreams, the ones where he lost her, she would already be awake. She would murmur to him softly as he held her, and whether sleep found him again or not, she would stay in his arms.

It was the same when he had the good ones. The ones where she made the change, became a vampire and they _literally_ lived happily ever after. She would know. When he woke, she would return his kisses with a smile and join him in his jubilation. They would while away the morning, and want nothing else.

* * *

Damon would have liked it to have happened like it did in one of the good dreams. Where she chose the change, and she would awake with a smile on her face. Where she would be a vampire entirely by her choice, because she loved him.

Unfortunately, things rarely happened so perfectly in Damon's life.

It was one of the bad ones. Not one of the worst. But still bad.

He remembered ripping off the vampire's head. Grinning sadistically. Carelessly throwing away the body, he turned to see Bonnie across the field, where she was burning the remains of her opponents. It seemed that Katherine's little vampire strike-force had been entirely inadequate. Damon, Stefan, Bonnie, Caroline, Tyler, Anna, Jeremy: they had easily made short work of them.

Damon had met Bonnie's gaze as she sensed him, and had smiled at her. Her lips had tilted upwards in response. She had fallen.

His shout had alerted Stefan. Damon had reached her first.

He had skidded to the ground, pulled her into his arms and shaken her frantically, calling her name. She hadn't moved.

Stefan had reached them just as Damon bit into his wrist. He'd fallen beside his brother as Damon forced his blood down Bonnie's throat. She was breathing, but unresponsive.

Stefan had found the wound in her side. Damon hadn't even noticed all of the blood. He was focused on Bonnie, only on Bonnie.

"She's rejecting the blood Damon," Stefan had told him.

"She can't do that," Damon had growled back, eyes on Bonnie's face. "We've healed her before."

Stefan had shaken his head. "Her powers have grown since then. Her body's resisting with magic. She's not healing."

Damon had not answered, only forced more blood down Bonnie's throat. Stefan's hand had come to his brother's shoulder. "Damon, it's not gonna work."

"I will die again before she does!" Damon had snarled. "Her body won't accept vampire blood? I won't give it a choice."

Stefan grabbing Damon's hand as it went to Bonnie's neck had not made a difference. "Damon, think about what you're doing," he'd said urgently.

Damon had snapped Bonnie's neck anyway.

Elena had been beside herself when they'd brought Bonnie's body back to the Salvatore house. Damon however had been completely unaware of her screams and shouts and allowed Stefan to deal with her. Damon had taken Bonnie straight upstairs.

And he hadn't moved for the rest of the night.

When she finally awoke, he'd greeted her with a bruising kiss. She'd whispered his name. He'd smiled, and welcomed her to forever.

* * *

Eternity is short.

Eternity is great.

Eternity is all you need in the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

* * *

**Sad thing is, if I actually owned whatever I wanted, I wouldn't be having to type this or ask for reviews because Jarvis would be doing it all for me...**


	18. Improvisation

Guess who's back? Sorry it's been ages, London was all a blur, but such an awesome trip. School is crazy at the moment (that's what you get for being in the second year of IB) and free time... well what free time? But I am finally back with a new update for everyone to enjoy. As always, thanks for putting up with me. Killerkaiser x

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Vampire Diaries (but don't worry, a plan is in the works)...

_Summary_: A Salvatore proposal would be anything but cliche

* * *

On the day of Elena's wedding, both Bonnie and Damon were ill.

And not ill as in they had an ailment, but ill as in they were almost physically sick by how happy and teary-eyed everyone was.

Once upon a time, Bonnie would have been crying along with them.

But she was now not only a witch, but a vampire too. And she had grown tired of sentimental human rituals which in the face of an eternity, just like the one both Elena and Stefan now had together, meant next to nothing. Elena and Stefan were going to live forever. They were going to be together forever. So all of this was pointless.

As the Maid of Honor Bonnie had stood by Elena, and of course she had been bursting with happiness as her best friend had said 'I do' with a smile so bright it probably could have reduced Stefan to ash.

But let's just say she wasn't complaining when Damon pulled her away from the festivities and the two of them took off at a full run into the forest.

* * *

During the wedding, Damon was… contemplative.

Up until this point, the thought of proposing to Bonnie had never crossed his mind. This of course started him off wondering whether she was going to be as desperate as Elena had been to get married.

He had found her eyes during the ceremony, from where he stood opposite as Stefan's best man. When Bonnie rolled her eyes and made a face at the tearful couple, he didn't think he'd ever loved her more. She had winked at him as the crowd burst into applause, and he had hardly been able to control himself up until he and Bonnie took off from the reception.

Now, as they lay in the branches of a tree, near enough to the house so that they could still hear the celebrations, Damon's fingers lazily traced Bonnie's shoulder as he said "So, you're not all crazy about this whole marriage deal?"

Bonnie shrugged, and he felt her shift against his chest. "I'm not against it," she said lightly. "I just think that when you're facing an eternity with someone, it seems kinda pointless. I mean, we're gonna outlive the papers anyway."

That in itself had posed a challenge to Damon. In some ways, he was glad Bonnie wasn't falling over herself trying to get him to marry her. On the other hand, it was sort of a rejection, and Damon Salvatore didn't do rejection.

* * *

A vampire leapt at Damon. He caught it mid-air, hand around its throat. Damon looked over towards Bonnie, who was tearing the head off her opponent with relish. He whistled.

"What?" Bonnie yelled as she ducked a blow from another vampire.

"Do you wanna get married?" Damon shouted across the clearing as he punched his fist through a vampire's stomach.

Elena dropped her fangs from her opponent's neck. Just like his wife, Stefan froze, mindless of the vampire diving towards him.

Bonnie laughed.

"Why would I do that?" she asked as she elbowed the vampire trying to sneak up behind her.

"I dunno," Damon shrugged, his stake finding the vampire's heart. He threw his dead opponent distastefully to the ground. "Maybe 'cause I love you or whatever."

Elena, who was watching this with her mouth open, almost got her head taken off by the vampire on her other side.

"Well," Bonnie said casually, dislocating her rival's shoulder. "It's kinda crazy at the moment, but we could probably find time. Or whatever."

* * *

Elena and Stefan thought they were joking.

"I dunno Bonnie. Was I joking?"

"No idea Damon. I mean, I don't think _I_ was joking. Don't know about you though."

To prove a point, they had even held the wedding at the mansion. Props to Caroline, she had turned the Salvatore grounds into a wedding fairytale in no time at all (with sufficient bullying of her werewolf boyfriend and his pack to help). They had made some alterations to the ceremony, for instance getting some of Bonnie's witch friends to set up a Wiccan ritual involving fire, and had made some changes to the vows as well (the 'til death do us part' one an obvious given). But it was all set to be something that Bonnie and Damon didn't want, didn't need, and yet wouldn't have any other way.

Or at least, that was the plan.

But as always, things had been ruined by Katherine. Or more specifically, her vampire lackeys.

They had attacked the wedding in swarms. In retrospect, they had been bloody lucky that their guests had included mainly those who were within the supernatural ranks in Mystic Falls, so there was little compulsion necessary, and no need to explain a sudden wave of deaths during the Salvatore-Bennett wedding.

Needless to say, the vampires successfully managed to destroy the wedding. This however only served to piss Bonnie and Damon off, and the vampires didn't last as long as they usually would have.

And then it started raining.

The wedding was in ruins, thunder and lighting crashed overhead and Bonnie's dress now had a conveniently-placed slit from the ankle to her left hip and rips all through the bodice. Elena was in near-tears at the destruction of Bonnie's wedding.

And Bonnie couldn't have been happier.

Damon looked slightly surprised when he opened his palm to see his wedding ring that Bonnie had just thrown to him. Raising his eyes to Bonnie's, he saw her ring already on her finger. Rain streamed over her face, binding the dress to her soaked form. There was a glint in her eyes and a grin on her lips.

"If you put that thing on, we're stuck together. Forever."

Damon had grinned.

Slipped the ring on his finger.

Crossed through the rain to her side.

Kissed her.

And never let go.

So sealing his fate in the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

* * *

Well, of course there was no way they were ever gonna have a normal, boring proposal/marriage now was there? 'Btw (that means By The Way' - who recognizes that quote?) I've noticed reviews have been slowing down a little. Thanks to all my regulars who always make sure to drop me a line, but maybe I'm not being pushy enough...


	19. Reality

Okay, so, here's one where we actually see how Bonnie and Damon might first have gotten together. Not saying that this would lead on to their serious eternal relationship or whatever, but since Lucy was in the series back when I wrote this, I thought she could be used. Unfortunately, I'll let you know right now that I've only got three more one-shots left at the moment, at least that I've written. Since I am taking my final IB exams in a few months, time to write is seriously lacking, so while I'll be able to update for the next three weeks, I may not be able to update after that. If I am struck by sudden inspiration (and free time) then I will try to write as many one-shots as I can for this, but I don't know how easy it'll be. Also, I wanted to do a Valentine's Day one as well, like I did the Christmas special, but I just don't think I'll have time, or at least maybe not until a few days after Valentine's Day. Anyway, I will do the best I can, and at least if worst comes to worst enjoy the next three updates. Thanks Killerkaiser xx

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Vampire Diaries, but I will continue writing them my anrgy letters...

_Summary_: Damon and Bonnie both have things they have to admit

* * *

"It must be difficult. Being in love with your brother's girlfriend."

If Damon hadn't caught his expression in time, he may have looked annoyed. Instead, he regarded Lucy coldly, questioningly, in answer to her knowing smirk. He didn't care whether the witch was related to Bonnie. He didn't care whether she had returned to town to help them. Damon didn't like being told what he did and didn't feel.

"But then…" Lucy gave a small laugh. "Must be worse. Being in love with Bonnie too."

"I'm not in love with anyone," Damon brushed off.

The witch laughed again. "I thought you were supposed to be the non-transparent brother?"

Damon eyed her darkly as Lucy gave a careless shrug. "I just mean… being in love with the girl your brother has. Again. Hard enough. But a Bennett witch? Who's still fighting her hatred for you? That's gotta suck."

"And what makes you think you know anything about it?"

Lucy smiled at the hostility in Damon's voice. "I'm just the observer. I call it how I see it."

"Well," Damon said with a false smile. "Don't."

Lucy chuckled. "Don't worry about it. I'm not here to judge. If you can't admit how you feel, that's your problem not mine." She paused for a moment, and when she continued, her tone was almost gentle, even cautious. "But… you realize that hiding your feelings from them won't work. I know you find it difficult, after everything, to trust people but…"

She trailed off as Damon said bitterly "Yeah, well, obsessing over someone for 145 years who didn't give a damn will do that to you."

Lucy smiled sadly, and then smiled for real. "But Katherine's gone now. So your problem here isn't her. It's which one you want more."

Damon's eyes remained fixed on her as she strolled across the room, but he didn't speak. Lucy filled the silence.

"See, on the one hand, you got Elena. She's everything Katherine is, and everything she's not. She belongs to your brother, and your brother loves her. She loves him. And yet, she can't stop her feelings for you. Elena's loyal to Stefan, but she can't help but forgive you for everything you've done. No matter what, she'll be there for you. She'll forgive you, 'cause she can't help it. She trusts you. Cares about you. And it doesn't matter that she loves Stefan, 'cause Elena won't judge you. She may hate you, she may want you to change. But she'll try. 'Cause she can't do anything else."

Damon remained silent.

"And your brother's girl…" Lucy laughed. "Well, that's kinda your thing. Taking the one your brother's got. You lost Katherine to him. So it only seems right to try again with Elena. 'Cause with her, it makes sense. You loved Katherine, so you must love Elena. She forgives your faults, will give you chance after chance after chance. Being in love with her… it's expected. It's right. It's the way things are supposed to work."

Now, Lucy met Damon's eyes. "But then… there's Bonnie."

She smiled as she noticed Damon stiffening imperceptibly. "Bonnie Bennett. When it comes to you… different from Elena in every way. Elena, she's… well, she's nice. She's good. And she can't stay mad at you for anything. But Bonnie…" Damon caught Lucy's smile again. "Bonnie's full of morals. Clear on what's right and wrong. She's powerful. She's stubborn. She's strong and smart and angry. And she still thinks that she should hate you. She doesn't think you can change, doesn't want you to. In her eyes, if you screw up, it's your fault. She knows what you are and doesn't give you any more than you deserve. She doesn't hold delusions about who you could be, what you could do. Because more than anything, Bonnie sees you for what you are. And while Elena may make allowances for you, Bonnie won't."

Again, Lucy paused. She moved closer to Damon as she spoke.

"Bonnie's dark. Everything that's happened to her… she may wanna think she's still good, still normal. But she's twisted. Tainted. And she can fight what she is all she wants, but the rush from magic, the power… she needs it. She _craves_ it. She's deeper and darker and more dangerous than anyone knows. Except you."

Damon's eyes snapped upwards. Lucy smirked.

"You get her. She may wanna deny it, but you two are much more alike than she wants to think. The intoxication of power… you both live for it. And Bonnie may be good, strong, just. But she knows why you do what you do. She understands you, 'cause she fights the same nature everyday. She just does it better than you do. See, Bonnie, you wanna taint what she is. You wanna open Pandora's box."

Lucy's smirk was beginning to irritate Damon. What irritated him even more was that he couldn't shut out her words.

"Problem is…it's already open. Elena may be there for you, forgive you, love you, even if you don't deserve it. With Bonnie, it'll only happen when you _do _deserve it."

Lucy moved across the room towards the door, heedless of Damon's silence. She turned just before she left. "Loving Elena is safe. You know that she loves you, even if she doesn't want to. Loving Bonnie is a risk. She may like you now, but if you screw up, she won't stay with you like Elena will. She'll walk out. Even kill you herself. The question is Damon… do you like to live dangerously?"

* * *

Damon hesitated before entering the library. He could sense Bonnie inside, her scent permeating in the air. Normally, he would have strolled forward without a second thought, but his conversation with Lucy had him faltering.

It wasn't possible that he loved Bonnie. They may be on better terms than before, and most of her words to him nowadays were either light insults or flirtatious comments, but still… it was not possible that Damon loved her. Want, maybe. But love was so much more, and Damon wasn't sure whether he was capable of it. Bonnie and him weren't close enough for there to be anything akin to love. That he was sure of.

Then why was he hesitating at the doorway?

His mind skipped backwards, two weeks. Elena and Bonnie had been having an argument; this had been happening with increasing frequency recently. As usual, it was about him.

"_Elena, we can't trust him. What do I have to do to convince you of that?"_

"_Damon can change Bonnie. He has changed."_

"_He wants you to think that. What do I have to do to get you to see that he may be on our side, but that doesn't mean we can trust him?"_

"_Bonnie, I think that…"_

"_Don't think.__ Just a__ccept that Damon is what he is and that there's nothing that can change that. His mind will always be the same: it's not some radio that can be retuned, not some clock whose mechanisms you can turn in the opposite direction. His mind can't be reset or remodeled so just give up. You cannot, and will never be able to, fix__ him."_

Elena wanted to believe in him. Wanted to hope for better. He loved her for that.

Bonnie didn't. She had never considered that he could change, and never would. Wouldn't waste her time trying. He loved her for that too, maybe more than he loved Elena.

Damon stepped into the library.

"Need any help?" The easy smile on his face betrayed his inner-turmoil as Bonnie's eyes flicked up towards his.

"Depends," she said with a smirk. "You offering?"

Damon's fingertips ghosted over the edge of Emily's Grimoire. "If I was?"

Bonnie chuckled. "Then no thanks."

Damon laughed, but his troubles tempered the humor in it. "Are you always gonna be like this with me?"

Bonnie's laugh was more honest. "Depends. Are you always gonna be an ass with me?"

If she noticed Damon's contemplative look (which she probably did, because Damon had a hard time fooling Bonnie even when he was at his best), she let it slide, and instead refocused on her book. Damon stepped forward and leant over the witch, bracing his palms on the table either side of her. Again, if Bonnie minded the intrusion into her personal space (her small smirk being a sign that it didn't bother her as much as it should have) she once more said nothing.

"What are we looking at this time?" Damon asked curiously, peering over Bonnie's shoulder at the pages.

"_I_ am looking at something I found a few days ago," Bonnie told him. "I was having a look through the grimoire, and I noticed that there's an unusual amount of cleansing spells in here."

"Cleansing spells?" Damon echoed.

"Like, to cleanse one of human weaknesses. Desires." She shrugged. "Or at least that's what the spells were tailored for."

"Why would Emily be working on cleansing spells?"

Bonnie angled her face up towards his slightly and Damon suddenly realized just how close they were. Unexpectedly, he was hit by the foolish urge to step away, maintain distance. In between the fight to close the distance and kiss her.

"That's what I thought at first too," Bonnie continued easily, showing no sign of being as bothered by their proximity as Damon was. "So I checked all the entries, and it seems that they were all trials. Just the same spell being re-worked until she got it right." Bonnie looked back down at the book, and Damon resisted the urge to lean down closer to get rid of the empty space between them. "And it made no sense that she would be working on a spell like that, so I thought about whom else would benefit from it."

Damon caught on, and Bonnie heard the inflection in his voice as he realized "Katherine."

Bonnie gave a sound of acquiesce, but Damon looked puzzled. "But that makes no sense. Why would Katherine need cleansing spells?"

"Again, same question I asked. So, I rechecked the entries."

Bonnie's voice faded away, and Damon's eyes shot to hers. Something was up. Bonnie rose just slightly, enough so she could reach over the table and pull some papers towards her – even so, when she stood, Damon found himself pressed to her back, only for a brief second.

At the contact, he felt a burst of heat tear through him, and he could have sworn his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Bonnie seemed to notice nothing however, and simply retook her seat. Damon struggled to control his breathing, and it was a moment before he could clear away the inappropriate thoughts in his head and focus on Bonnie's words.

"Emily made some notes on the results of the spell trials. And on what they were for."

Damon's eyes flickered down to the notes, and saw the elegant scrawl on the page. He met Bonnie's gaze more slowly this time, knowing the implication in what was written. And that she would have already figured it out. When Damon spoke, his voice was subdued.

"Katherine was trying to cleanse herself of human emotions. Human desires. Which means…"

Bonnie's eyes were fixed on his, but he couldn't meet them. He could only say to the pages "Her switch stopped working."

There was silence. Damon had long tried to keep this little fact to himself: that a vampire's ability to switch off their emotions only worked for the first hundred years or so. Eventually though, vampires were unable to do it; they simply had to work through it and suffer.

It also meant that Bonnie now knew that he couldn't use the switch as an excuse for his behavior anymore. That he had never been able to. Everything he had done, he had done with full awareness of his actions.

It also meant she knew he was just as incapable of shutting off his attraction to her, as she was of shutting off her attraction to him.

"Did you know?"

Her voice was quiet, and Damon understood what she was asking: _"Did you know that the switch didn't work? That you wouldn't be able to resist the way you felt?"_

"Yes."

Damon could see the question in her eyes: _"How long have you known? How long have you been unable to control what's happening between us?"_

Damon sighed. Admitted quietly "Since I met you."

Finally, his cerulean eyes locked on hers, and when he spoke his voice was clear, strong. Strong because he knew that nothing could stop this now.

"Because I realized that no matter what I did, I couldn't control what you did to me. Couldn't do anything about how I felt."

And even though he didn't say it, Bonnie understood the _about you _on the end of that sentence. Which is what led her to keep her eyes on his. Led her to speak in a quiet voice, a moment before she kissed him.

"But I can."

The bolt of lightning that hit Damon was like nothing he'd ever felt before. All thoughts of Elena, of Katherine were burned from his mind. Bonnie washed through him, burning away his insides, a purity that was so painful he couldn't get enough. It tore apart everything in its path, cleansing his soul, driving away everything that was not her. Her mouth moved with a wild ferocity against his that he gladly matched. He heard her moan as he brought a hand up to her neck, and he felt her arms twine around his. The light that coursed through him grew brighter, burning white light, scorching the world around him until all that was left was Bonnie. His other hand moved to her waist, arching her against him from her seat and sparks blazed before his eyes. Their emotions exploded, a hurricane meeting a volcano. A tornado crashing into a tidal wave. Cold fire seared through his veins, and the delicious agony didn't recede when her lips tore away from his, desperately scrambling for air.

The world crashed back down around them, and they both remained silent, panting, eyes locked. The air crackled between them, before Damon finally asked her breathlessly "You realize this is gonna screw everything up?"

The witch laughed. _His_ witch.

"Well, that's the question isn't it…?" Bonnie asked him, and he noticed a slight tilt to her lips. Her eyes were capturing his as she said with a smirk "Do you like to live dangerously?"

In answer, Damon leaned down and captured her lips once more.

Yes, Damon liked to live dangerously. It was a requirement of the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

* * *

There ya go, another update. By the way, just 'cause I wanna get a little rant in here after seeing the latest episode: I hate Vampire Diaries now. Well no I don't really... but I do. And believe it or not, it's not because of Bonnie and Jeremy, although obviously you know what I think about that. It's actually about Tyler. HOW COULD HE LEAVE? I mean, I can't believe he's left, I am just not dealing with it. TYLER WAS AWESOME! Not just because he and Caroline are supposed to be together, because while Matt is cute, he is human, and therefore boring... but still! I was so upset that he left. Because now, not only will he and Caroline not be together, but he's either not gonna come back, or more likely it's gonna be AGES before he reappears. I am so pissed off/going into depression.

Okay, I'm done. Reviewing may just improve my mood.


	20. Sinner

I know this one is a little late since Valentine's Day was on Monday, but considering that Monday and Friday are at opposite ends of the week to each other, I just think they weren't being very considerate of my story. But better later than never. Killerkaiser xx

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Vampire Diaries, and those sorts of presents come at Christmas, not Valentine's...

_Summary_: Valentine's Day is never going to be normal, but then neither will Bonnie and Damon

**

* * *

**

**Sloth**

"By the way Bonnie, I'm not getting you anything for Valentine's Day this year."

The way that Elena looked at Damon, he may as well have said something blasphemous.

Bonnie raised an eyebrow at the vampiric bane of her existence, but for a moment said nothing. The three vampires had been lounging in the Salvatore living room on that particular February 10th, with a noticeably absent Stefan, who, so far as Bonnie could figure (since she hadn't really been paying attention when Stefan had left) was out sorting out Elena's Valentine's Day gifts.

Gifts that she, apparently, was to be denied this year.

Elena was looking at her expectantly, waiting for Bonnie's outburst: how Damon was being a selfish asshole, how he couldn't get away with being a dick all of the time, that Bonnie couldn't simply be treated like a…

"Thank God. Means I don't have to get you anything."

Elena's mouth dropped open.

**

* * *

**

Wrath

"WHAT THE HELL DO I EVEN SEE IN YOU? YOU'RE AN ASS!"

Damon winced at the sound of the door being flung open with a vehemence it didn't deserve. Still, Caroline had stirred her fury up to a storm by this point, and Tyler's obviously weak attempts to placate her weren't helping. Irate footsteps mounted the staircase, followed by the trailing sounds of the unfortunate wolf, and then the two had disappeared upstairs, no doubt to continue their shouting match in a more private location.

Of course, considering they were in a house of vampires and werewolves, all with overly-sensitized hearing, this was merely a charade of normalcy.

Damon let out a low whistle, settling his arm more closely around Bonnie's shoulder. She leant her head back on his chest as he said with a grin "See? At least I chose not to do anything about Valentine's Day, and then let you know about it. I could have just forgotten, like the dog."

Bonnie laughed.

**

* * *

**

Greed

"I think we should leave town."

Bonnie chuckled. "Yeah. Right."

"Not permanently," Damon snorted, turning away from the bookcase to face his vampire mate, who was waltzing her fingers over various covers. "Just for Valentine's Day."

"And why is that?" Bonnie asked carelessly.

"'Cause the whole thing's stupid. So why not make a day out of it?"

A perfectly-crafted eyebrow arched flawlessly. "I'm sorry," Bonnie's voice mocked him "But last I checked, _you_ were the one who didn't want to do anything for Valentine's Day. Didn't wanna make a deal out of it."

Damon did a double take. "I thought you were okay with all that?"

In response, the vampire-witch simply rolled her eyes and turned away from him.

**

* * *

**

Gluttony

Damon's hand reached up to gently brush a stray lock of hair behind Bonnie's ear. Despite the tenderness in the loving gesture, Bonnie was fully aware this was more to gain better access to her neck. His head came in to trail his lips up the slender column of her throat, exchanging light kisses for slight nips at the skin he found there.

Bonnie sighed and shrugged her shoulder slightly.

Damon, in tune as he was with Bonnie's every movement, pulled back suddenly.

"Okay, what did I do now?"

Bonnie's questioning gaze and light "What do you mean?" didn't fool him.

"I'm getting the cold shoulder."

He cut her off and stole Bonnie's words from her mouth.

"And not just literally because you're a vampire and therefore have no heartbeat, ergo no blood flow, ergo, no body temperature. If you haven't noticed, I'm a little busy trying to enjoy myself here, and yet your sense of kill is affecting my buzz."

There was a moment of silence. Then…

"You're not getting the cold shoulder Damon."

With that, Bonnie rose and left, throwing all Damon's afternoon plans out the window at the same time.

**

* * *

**

Envy

Bonnie strode down the main street of Mystic Falls, ignoring the looks she was drawing from the crowd.

The looks that either said 'Why can't my Valentine be that hot?' or 'What the hell is a babe like that doing alone so close to Valentine's Day?'

The answer to those questions: well the first one was a case of this being Bonnie Bennett they were talking about. Enough said. As to the second one…

The vampire-witch had long gotten used to Damon's peculiar mood swings, ass-hole tendencies and general dick-ness, and she had chosen it all when she had (for reasons still beyond her) fallen for him, had him fall for her, and agreed to spend an eternity with him.

And believe it or not, it wasn't that she was pissed at him over the Valentine's Day issue. She really didn't care that much whether they celebrated it or not, didn't envy all the humans in love. But Damon and Bonnie had a habit of spending fifty percent of their time doing the opposite to each other, and considering that Damon didn't want to celebrate, that meant the universe decreed that Bonnie therefore did. And yet, Bonnie wasn't about to get all hooked on sulking because Damon wasn't proclaiming his love for her every other day and not wanting to shower her with the perfect Valentine's Day. A stupid human tradition anyway.

But one of the things Damon loved most about Bonnie was that she made him work for it, and he never knew what to expect. So, instead of being the usual pushy girlfriend most people would think the situation called for, Bonnie decided simply to see if he couldn't get the hint the old fashioned way.

She really didn't care about Valentine's Day.

But Damon didn't have to know that.

**

* * *

**

Pride

"Admit it."

Without looking up from her magazine Bonnie said "Okay. I admit it."

That took the vampire aback. "Admit what?" he asked her, confused.

Bonnie shrugged. "I dunno, _you_ were the one who asked _me_ to admit it."

"Do you even know what you're admitting?"

Bonnie still didn't look up. "I figured you'd tell me."

Damon leaned over her, putting a hand on each armrest of the chair, boxing his mate in. when she met his gaze, eyebrows raised, the dark-haired vampire said smugly, blue eyes glittering "Admit that you want Valentine's Day. That you're pissed that I don't care about it. And that you're punishing me for it."

In response, Bonnie chuckled and put the magazine between them again to continue reading.

Damon left it at that, but it didn't escape either of them that she hadn't given him an answer.

**

* * *

**

Lust

Damn he was good.

Self-obsessed, true, especially when he really should be focusing on Bonnie at this moment, not himself.

But as her leg came to hook up over his hip, his hand trailing up from her ankle to her thigh, he simply couldn't avoid the thought. Considering that (even if Bonnie hadn't admitted it), she had been pissed at him for the last few days, this turn of events was a stroke of genius on his part.

Damon's other hand had moved to her spine, arching her up against him in all the right places. He grinned as his witch suddenly flipped him onto his back, so that her tongue could choose which of his eight abs to focus on first.

He'd know that there had to be some way to make it up to her. And he'd got in pretty damn perfect.

Damon sat up in one swift movement, positioning Bonnie so that her legs were on either side of him. His hands came up to brush her hair back, caress her cheeks and pull her in for a kiss. Drawing back, he grinned and said "Happy valentine's Day."

A flawless eyebrow rose.

"You do realize it February 13th right?"

Well, he'd got it almost perfect. After all, you couldn't get _everything _right in the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

* * *

I'm not gonna say review and you get Damon Salvatore for you're Valentine, 'cause that's just not gonna happen. And besides, if it was, I'd already have him.


	21. Knowledge

Okay, so sad news guys. I've only got two more chapters after this one, at least that I've written. If inspiration strikes and I can write a few more, then no fear. Unfortunately, with six weeks to go before my end of year IB exams (like the final ones that decide uni and my future and stuff), time to write may be limited. I will pray though that something comes to me and I can write some more. If not, the next two are part of a double-thing, so you'll have those to look forward. I really wanna write at least one other one though, since the next two are kinda creepy/depressing. Anyway, enjoy this one for now and pray that I can write at least a couple more before I give up for my exams. Killerkaiser xx

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Vampire Diaries, but once I pass my exams, go to uni and get a degree, I will be skilled enough to stage a hostile takeover of the show...

_Summary_: Bonnie can't seem to escape Damon, but then maybe that's not such a bad thing

* * *

Caroline rolled her eyes, as Elena's pleadingly looked into Bonnie's. The witch in question was stood with her arms folded in front of her chest defiantly, a most un-amused look marring her features. Despite Elena's wide, doe-eyes and Caroline's impatient expression, Bonnie was not to be swayed.

"Absolutely not," the witch told them, enunciating each syllable as if this would somehow convince the two of the clarity of her meaning.

She could see however, that Caroline and Elena were not convinced, and if the expressions on their faces said anything, it was that they weren't done yet.

"It's for charity Bonnie," Caroline told her sternly, as if such benefaction somehow settled the matter.

"It's sexist, degrading and carries the risk of disease," Bonnie retaliated.

Elena took a hold of Bonnie's hands. "C'mon Bon. It's just one hour. Then someone switches shifts with you and it's all over."

Bonnie may have been an incredibly powerful Bennett witch who ran with vampires, but as always, she was weak when it came to her friends. She looked at Elena, feeling hesitation seeping in through the cracks in her armor. Both Caroline and Elena picked up on this fact, and sensing approaching victory, continued.

"Please Bonnie," Elena continued. "It would do us a huge favor."

"This carnival's a big deal," Caroline told Bonnie. "And as one of my two best friends, your help is basically a requirement."

Bonnie's eyes flitted between the two of them. They could see her resolve falter. Bonnie sighed heavily.

"I didn't ever have a choice in this, did I?"

Both Caroline and Elena spoke at once.

"No."

* * *

Bonnie shuddered, and hurriedly wiped the back of her hand across her lips. It still didn't take away the taste of the acne-ridden teenage boy she had just been forced to kiss, but any small comfort was comfort enough.

Bonnie sighed heavily but worked quickly to clear her expression as her next customer made his way up the steps. Somehow, and Bonnie truly had no idea how, she had ended up being roped into doing an hour's shift at the kissing booth. The annual Mystic Falls Carnival was a tremendous event in the town, and the students of Mystic Falls High were always used to man stands and help set up. Caroline, as head of every committee in the school, and Elena as someone always willing to help out, were running the event; it was because of Bonnie's unfortunate relationship with the two that she had been somehow drawn into helping at the brightly painted booth, adorned with hearts and bearing large pink letters.

As yet another boy sat down in front of her, Bonnie closed her eyes in despair. She had been totally right when she had said that this was sexist, degrading and carried the risk of disease – this had been proven in the boy with salivary gland problem and the man chewing something that definitely wasn't gum. As the boy before her leaned forward, Bonnie closed her eyes, grimacing at the sloppy touch of his lips. She pulled back, despite the obvious disappointment of her admirer (who had paid four times to come and see her in the last half hour) and said nothing as he got up and walked down the steps. Sighing, her eyes flitted towards the line of customers queued near the booth, and she groaned as she realized how long the line stretched. She still had another twenty minutes of her shift left.

Bonnie ran a hand through her long hair and readjusted herself on the wooden stool that had been named hers. As she did so, her ears picked out the footsteps of her next customer, and eyes automatically rose to see who she would next play victim to.

She wasn't sure whether she should be insanely happy, or unbelievably pissed.

Damon Salvatore was strolling up the wooden steps towards her, a lazy smile on his irritatingly perfect features. Bonnie's eyes were torn between widening in surprise and narrowing in suspicion, as opposed to the mischievous glint in Damon's.

Bonnie and Damon had grown closer over the past few months – what had started as an uneasy truce and difficult agreement had eventually turned into a tenuous companionship, later to become a peculiar alliance. Finally, before either of them had realized it, they were friends. Friends who bickered and argued more than they spoke to each other, but still friends in a sense. Either way, Damon still made a habit of irritating the Bennett witch to the best of his ability, which at Damon's standards was incredibly high. Normally Bonnie would quite easily have been able to deal with the trickery of the eldest Salvatore brother, and yet, right now, she could do nothing – she was on the clock.

Bonnie's eyes never left his as he sauntered forwards, not even when he stopped before her to fold his arms over his chest and regard her with cool, calculating yet somewhat amused expression.

"You mind Damon?" Bonnie asked him, eyebrow arching. "You're holding up the line."

Damon grinned at her and held up his hand. Between two fingers was a slip of red paper. A ticket.

"You have got to be kidding me?"

Damon smirked more widely at her tone of voice and took this opportunity to settle down on the small stool in front of his favorite witch.

"I'm a paying customer," he said with a supremely smug air as he rested his elbows on his knees to lean forward. "And it's for charity."

Bonnie couldn't help but laugh. "The only charity you care about is your own," she told him amusedly.

Damon shrugged. "True," he admitted with a careless smile. "But let's be honest. What with all the losers you've had to cater for this afternoon, I think you should be relieved at the chance to kiss me instead."

Bonnie met Damon's gaze wryly. "I can think of greater gifts."

Damon chuckled – the witch's sarcastic sense of humor never failed to greatly amuse him… and turn him on somewhat as well.

He grinned at his favorite new past-time. "Ever one with a sharp tongue, and an even sharper wit Miss Bennett," he told her graciously. His eyebrows arched upwards and a familiar glint reappeared. "But we also know that your tongue has other talents too."

Bonnie's own eyebrows mimicked his in their upward movement as Damon grinned at her, leaning forward.

"You like proving me wrong Bonnie," he baited her. "Do it now."

The challenge was blatant. And in that moment Bonnie realized: it wasn't her friends that were her weakness, her dire need to help those she cared about. It was a challenge. She couldn't resist being baited, couldn't resist proving those who doubted her wrong. Her smirk being the only form of hesitation she offered, Bonnie leaned forward to capture Damon's lips with her own.

She had intended for it to just last a moment. Honest. But when Damon's lips touched hers, it was as if they were fused there, held in place by a burning heat that sent thrills of pleasure all through Bonnie's body. She was numbly aware of Damon responding in the same way, his lips seizing hers fiercely, preventing her from drawing back even if the voice in her head had managed to convince her to. She withdrew only for a brief moment, partially to gasp at air, partially to whisper breathlessly "You realize you only paid for one ticket?"

She heard a vague murmur of "I can afford to buy more" before Damon had his lips on hers again.

Her senses remained deadened in that moment, her only feeling the electricity dancing over her skin at Damon's proximity. Somewhere, within the muted backdrop of reality, she was numbly aware of a voice breaking into the realms of her hearing, which had similarly lost its ability to focus on what was going on around her. But its words jolted her sharply from her two separated realities, the one that was Damon and the one that wasn't. Bonnie drew back, the fire in her lips not vanishing as the feel of Damon's mouth did.

"Hey! If that's what you get for just one ticket, we're all gonna be expecting the same!"

Bonnie could sense more than see Damon's eyes darken, and knew there would be murder in his gaze. His head snapped around swiftly towards the culprit, who turned out to be a young boy, no older than thirteen. The bold, insolent expression on the boy's face vanished in an instant as Damon's venomous sapphire eyes took a hold of him. The boy fell silent, struggling to keep the mutinous look on his face. Bonnie smiled, despite herself.

Damon turned back towards her, eyes glittering darkly at the offending youth behind him. The only comfort Bonnie offered him was a laugh and a simple "I've got other customers waiting y'know."

For a brief, fleeting moment Bonnie thought Damon was going to say something. Either that or kiss her again. But (to her disappointment?) neither happened. Instead, Damon rose swiftly from the stool and moved past Bonnie towards the steps. But not before he turned to look at her one last time, a smirk on his face and an indistinguishable glint in his eyes.

"You realize this is essentially a form of prostitution, right?" he pointed out cheerfully.

Bonnie's mouth opened to retort in outrage, but Damon had already smirked even more widely, and sauntered off down the steps.

Bonnie would have very much liked to have been able to go after Damon, but her customers were already pushing forward up the steps. Reluctantly, Bonnie settled herself back into her stool until the end of her shift.

Which, surprisingly, wasn't as long as Bonnie had expected. It was barely five minutes later that she noticed the dwindling numbers in the line. That her regular customers, who had been returning every few minutes after buying a new ticket, weren't reappearing now. Her eyes scanned the ever-shrinking line; in her peripheral vision, she thought she saw a flash of dark clothing, ice-blue eyes and a familiar smirk. Sure enough, a few moments later she saw a familiar pale hand on the shoulder of one of her regulars. A few whispered words, and the man peeled out of the line and disappeared. With a smirk, Damon soon followed. She caught one last glimpse of him disappearing between the stands, and a few minutes later, the dwindling numbers of her customers had been reduced to nothing.

Bonnie was distracted to say the least, for the rest of the afternoon. Her mind swirled with thoughts as she tried to reason out why Damon would have gone through such lengths to make sure none of her other customers came back. To stop anyone else from kissing her.

Bonnie couldn't help but consider that maybe it was jealousy. A manifestation of Damon's possessiveness. But as always, Damon's words belied the true nature of his actions. And as much as Bonnie liked to think that she could fathom what went on in the recesses of Damon's mind, she couldn't. Very much perhaps, she mused, in the same way that Damon always complained about not being able to understand her. Still, Bonnie thought with a smile, psychotic vampire or not… damn did he know how to kiss.

He probably learned that from extensive study of the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

* * *

There we go, hope you enjoyed it. Wish me luck with the whole forcing myself to get inspired. Reviews always help...


	22. Mortality

Okay, so this is the first part of a two-part piece, full of depression and angst and your not-so-typical Damon & Bonnie sorta anti-love story. The non-fluffy nature of this one will become apparent as you read. I have the second part ready to update next weekend, and then I have one more one-shot after that as well. Since that one's not exactly fluffy either I'm hoping to write at least one more nice one before I have to take a break from writing to focus on my Year 13 final exams and my crazy school schedule. Still, hope this one is up to standard and you enojy. Killerkaiser xx

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the Vampire Diaries, although I have had quite a few people suggest that I'd do a better job eg. bring Tyler Lockwood back and start on hooking Bonnie and Damon up already...

_Summary_: There are some things that even Damon Salvatore can't escape

* * *

The rush of sound to his ears was both unfamiliar yet expected. The sensation of the crowd pressed close around him, much closer than they would have been if they'd had any idea about his true nature, was recognized yet unwelcome. His eyes picked up the lights from the torches, burning a bright contrast to the dark, muted colors of the ground, the sky, the villagers. But despite the black night, the hungry crowd, the harsh cawing of ravens in the surrounding trees: it fell to a deafeningly silent backdrop as his cerulean eyes finally fixed on the figure at the centre of it all.

Bonnie Bennett.

Damon watched as she was dragged up over the wood, his cold, impassive expression belying the desperation in his eyes. He wanted to get to her. To help her. But he could not move. He could not expose himself. He had no choice, but to stand in the centre of the jeering, screaming crowd and watch as Bonnie's hands were pulled harshly behind her back and bound to the pole in the centre of the pyre.

Her long, blood-red skirt was torn. The cloth bound around her upper half had been ripped at one shoulder. Her hair was wild, dried blood creeping down from the edge of her mouth.

She did not struggle.

She did not speak.

Her eyes, cold as Damon's, swept over the crowd, who roared and cursed as a figure climbed up beside her.

The man, mindless of the noise of the crowd at Bonnie's expense, brandished a scroll and proclaimed in a deep, tenor voice "May it be taken upon record that on this 4th night of the 4th month, Magistrate Wilkins takes council over the trial of the witch, Bonnie Bennett, last of the Bennett line."

His eyes flickered darkly to Bonnie's, who gave him a sardonic smile. He continued, the slight tautness to his mouth betraying his fear.

"Bonnie Bennett, you have been accused of the darkest art, witchcraft. Tonight, we are giving you one final chance, to renounce your dark ways and to seek forgiveness. Repent… and you may yet escape the pyre's flames."

Another roar from the crowd, and the Magistrate returned his gaze to Bonnie. One delicate eyebrow arched upwards. When she spoke, her voice was smooth, sinuously calm.

"My Grimoire. Bring it to me."

At a sign from the Magistrate, Damon recognized the familiar form of the Grimoire being carried up towards Bonnie. The man bearing the book held it as if he was afraid it would burst into flames. The moment he had handed it over, he moved hurriedly from the pyre.

The Magistrate held the book out for Bonnie to inspect.

Her hair fell down over her face as she leaned forward to look at the bound cover, but Damon could pick out the tilt to her lips as she regarded it. After a long moment, she raised her eyes to meet those of the Magistrate.

He looked at her questioningly.

Bonnie smiled.

And the book burst into flame.

The man cried out in agony as the fire raged in his palms. And yet, he could not drop the Grimoire. It remained, fused to his hands as the flames roared into the air, eating away at the book and the man's flesh. Bonnie watched this all with a smirk as the crowd screamed and gasped.

And then, just as suddenly as the fire had arisen, it vanished. The Magistrate fell to his knees, moaning as he cradled his ravaged hands. He only looked up when Bonnie's soft laugh broke through the deadly silence that had fallen on the crowd.

Bonnie smiled at him, almost sweetly, except Damon could sense the poison in the expression.

"I couldn't have any other witches stealing my work now could I?" Bonnie asked the man pleasantly.

Her smile faded. Her face twisted cruelly. When Bonnie spat at the Magistrate, a stream of blood caught him right in the face. Her eyes blazed as her mouth quirked upwards in a humorless smile.

The Magistrate's agony-struck expression twisted into one of disgust. Climbing unsteadily to his feet, he hissed viciously at Bonnie.

"Demon."

Bonnie laughed.

The Magistrate nodded, and the men standing at the edges, holding the torches, started forward. The flames flickered as they neared the wood, as if in anticipation, and the air before Damon's eyes shimmered, Bonnie's cackle ringing in his ears.

No.

It wasn't the flames that were distorting his vision. The image was swimming, changing before his eyes.

And the scene before him altered.

Bonnie was still tied to the pyre, the figures still advancing on her with the flaming torches. But Bonnie no longer stood, laughing defiantly. The confident, relaxed smirk on her face had vanished. Her eyes no longer glowed with strength and magic as she faced down death.

Bonnie was broken.

Her eyes were brimming with tears, drops cascading down her cheeks. She desperately tried to pull at the bonds around her wrists, frantic in her movements. She was sobbing, pleading, begging to the Magistrate as they neared her with the torches and she gazed at them in fear, terror etched on her every feature. The Bonnie before Damon now was a completely separate entity from the one who had stood before him just moments ago. This Bonnie was a teenage girl, afraid, begging for her life, faced with an excruciating death.

There was only one similarity between this Bonnie and the other: they were both going to die.

* * *

When Damon bolted upright in bed, it took him mere moments to recognize his surroundings – his nightmares came too frequently nowadays for them to catch him unawares. His eyes darted over to the digital clock, which read a time that was too ridiculously early to even consider mentioning. Damon sighed heavily and pushed his hair back from his face. He took a moment, as if he had a heart beat to slow down, and then kicked the covers off.

Damon's feet hit the soft, carpeted floor of the motel room with a silent thud. He moved without a sound to the bathroom, and pushing it open (the handle was broken) made his way inside. His hand reached upwards for the light cord, and when it burst into life, he was looking at his own reflection in the grimy mirror.

Even Damon, still as vain as ever, could admit that he didn't look like himself.

His skin had always been pale, but while before it had looked smooth and alluring, it now just looked ashen and hollow.

The light above him flickered.

His hair was unkempt, not in the usual I-just-had-wild-sex-and-damn-was-I-good kind of way, but simply through lack of care and too many hours of running his hands feverishly through it.

There was a buzz of electricity from the bulb above.

His clothes were crumpled, having been worn for multiple days in a row while on the road.

There was a small exploding crack from the light bulb again.

Only his eyes, as clear and as cold as ever, gazed back at his out of the mirror.

That, and one more pair of eyes, thrown into sharp relief by the flickering light above.

Damon whipped around at vampire speed, a growl already rising in his throat.

Bonnie didn't react.

Didn't move.

Didn't speak.

She didn't look like herself either.

Her hair was wild, matted, untamed. She was thinner, ill-looking. Her clothes were torn, hanging loosely from her body. Scratches, from her own nails no doubt, marred her once flawless skin.

But the feverish gleam in her eyes could not temper the familiar twin green flames that always resided there. They regarded Damon, not coldly, not angrily, not sadly.

They regarded him, devoid of anything at all.

Damon didn't speak. His mouth was twisted in an ugly expression, his eyes digging through Bonnie's form. But he wouldn't speak to her. Couldn't speak to her.

She was the first to make a move.

"It's your fault," she whispered, betrayal lacing her every word.

"You can't be here," was Damon's hollow reply, without turning to her.

"This happened to me because of you."

"Go away."

"You did this to me."

Damon's voice grew angry.

"There's nothing that can change it now."

Her tone was now desperate, accusatory, tormented.

"Why would you do this to me?"

"Leave me alone!"

"I thought you loved me?"

"YOU'RE NOT REAL!"

He struck forward at a speed no human could follow, rage and terror fueling his action. His hand sliced through the air, straight towards Bonnie.

It passed through nothing.

She had vanished.

Damon's breathing was fast and erratic, and if he had still been blessed with a pulse, it would have been racing. His eyes darted around the room, his body jerking as he searched for Bonnie's presence. But the vision of her had vanished, leaving Damon alone in the bathroom once more.

Finally, after a few terrifying moments, Damon's breathing slowed. He was sure now that the apparition of his former witch lover was gone, and yet, her presence still lingered, crawling over his skin. He turned slowly back towards the mirror, his eyes on the reflection, in case she reappeared. When she didn't, Damon let out a deep sigh. He looked straight in the mirror, meeting the gaze of his reflection dead in the eyes.

"Okay little witch," he finally conceded. "You win. You win."

* * *

As you can see, totally non-fluffy, but hope you guys like it all the same. Second part will be on the way soon.


	23. Insanity

Okay, so as promised, the second part where all will be revealed, but not all will have a happy ending. I do however, have news that I have at least one more one-shot, which I will post next week, and at that time I will let you know if its the last one I post before my exams start. Hope you enjoy them all anyway. Killerkaiser x

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Vampire Diaries but my Head of Hostile Takeovers recently gave me a good idea...

_Summary_: Sometimes, facing your fears doesn't fix them

* * *

He had promised he wouldn't do this again. Not to himself. Not to her.

But his feet didn't stop as they moved down the white corridor, didn't slow or hesitate. Against the sterile walls, his dark clothing offset his pale skin, highlighting the deep shadows in his eyes. And yet, he moved with same ease he always had, in total ignorance of the thoughts screaming through his subconscious.

If Elena or Stefan had known that Damon was here, they wouldn't have allowed it. But considering that they didn't even know where _here _was, he figured there was little they could do to interfere. And besides, considering that they would have put a stake through his heart themselves if they saw him again…

Six months. It had been six months since Damon had fled Mystic Falls. He had been gone before Elena and Stefan had gotten back to the Boarding House, getting as far away from the town as fast as he could.

But not before stopping to see her.

He'd walked down the same white corridors, to the same room, with the same sense of utter wrongness. But he did it then and he was doing it now.

His feet slowed as he reached a white doorway, hand moving to the handle to push it open. Admittedly, he surprised himself by showing no hesitation, no stopping in the doorway. He walked straight through, closing the door behind him, feet silent as they carried him towards the glass window before him.

It covered one wall of the room, looking into another. This other room did not have carpets like the one he was in now, no presence of muted color. It was completely devoid of any objects or life, a blank, white room.

A blank, white room with only one splash of color. A dark, mocha splash of color.

Bonnie sat hunched in the far corner of the room, knees drawn up to her chest. Her hair, just as it had been in the apparition, was matted and unkempt, the same nail marks on her arms and face. She was wearing a plain white tank top and loose white trousers, blending seamlessly into the stark, sterile room.

When Damon reached the window, there was a moment when he simply watched her, carefully cataloguing every feature. This was interrupted however, the moment Bonnie's eyes rose up to meet his.

No matter how much she had changed, her eyes were still the same. Vivid green, bright with something Damon had never been able to identify. Harsh, judging, totally pure in their fire and strength. All Damon had to do was look into them and it all came rushing back, tearing at his soul in the same way the witch had somehow managed.

Six months ago, Bonnie had had a vision. She had seen, before her own eyes, Klaus kill Elena. And Damon had always known that if anything, Bonnie's unwavering love for her friends would be her downfall. She may have been proud, judgmental, unforgiving. But it was her loyalty that Damon had always known would get her killed.

And he would never let that happen to her.

But despite Damon's fierce reasoning, Bonnie had paid no attention. She had driven herself to the brink trying to find a way to stop Klaus, to stop the vision. Nose bleeds, fainting spells, illness: Bonnie had been relentless, as always, believing that it was all up to her, that she had to be the one to fix this, that it was her or no one else. Bonnie had almost killed herself trying to save her best friend.

No matter what Damon did, he could do nothing to dissuade her from her mission. He knew that she was going to push herself too far, that he was going to lose her if he didn't find some way to bring her back from what had become her obsession.

She had been just so damn desperate not to let Elena die.

But then it was easy for Damon to blame this all on Elena. Really though, Damon had been the one to finally pull the trigger.

Bonnie hadn't listened to him. Her magic had begun to spin from her control, her life force draining away, and every time she expended her power, other vampires became more aware of the Bennett witch and how useful she could be, how dangerous she was.

Damon had known he'd have to find some way to stop her, that the only option left was the put her someplace where she was shut off from her powers, so they couldn't hurt her.

A mental asylum had been the last place he'd wanted.

But he'd known it was the best option. Damon knew that drugs, like those used by doctors, inhibited her powers. He knew this because Bonnie had been kidnapped once, and the vampires who did it had used the sedatives to block her witch abilities. If the asylum could keep her hidden, away from Klaus, away from Elena and Stefan, away from anyone who would free her to use her abilities again before Elena was safe, then so be it.

His mind went back with startling clarity to that night. He'd known he needed some way for Bonnie to be marked as insane. The fact that she was a witch was enough for that; any normal person would see her claiming magical abilities as enough of a reason to lock her away permanently. Of course, that wasn't Damon's intention: he planned on finding a way to free Bonnie, as soon as Klaus was taken care of.

But until then, this was the best place for Bonnie. Which was why he still didn't regret his actions that night.

Unbidden, the memories skittered across his brain, flashes of images and words he didn't want to see, didn't want to hear – experiencing it again meant that he had no choice but to accept that it had happened.

That he had done that to her.

_Bonnie smiled as Damon handed her the glass, her eyes alight with curiosity._

"_Am I allowed to ask what the occasion is?"_

_Damon smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. If Bonnie hadn't been so exhausted from using her powers, she would have noticed._

"_Do I always have to have a motive?"_

_Bonnie simply smiled knowingly at him in a this-is-you-we're-talking-about kind of way._

_Damon settled down in the chair opposite her, drink in hand. Leaning forward, Damon's palm ghosted down Bonnie's face, cupping her cheek. A gentle smile tugged at her lips as she leaned into his cool touch, and she allowed her eyes to drift shut, the lines of worry and exhaustion fading away just for a moment._

_But it wasn't enough to make Damon forget._

"_So then…" Bonnie's voice pulled him from his dark thoughts. "What are we drinking to?"_

_The crystal glass in his hand suddenly became very real and very heavy. His hand dropped from Bonnie's cheek. The smile he gave her was weak, and in many ways, it hurt more than anything that she didn't even notice anymore. The one person who was supposed to know him better than anyone._

_Smile tight on his face, Damon raised his glass. His eyes met Bonnie's, and she looked at him curiously, yet still, somehow, didn't see that anything was wrong._

_It was this that forced Damon to finally accept that Bonnie wasn't getting better. She was drifting further away as she got lost in her powers, and Damon couldn't get her back anymore._

_He had no choice._

_Bonnie was surprised when Damon pulled her to him, his mouth finding hers firmly. Despite her exhaustion, her fear, her troubled mind, even she couldn't help but notice the desperation in his kiss, the agony. Bewildered, she let him take lead, his lips working hers as if memorizing them. When he finally drew back, his forehead rested for a moment against hers before he pulled away. The pain in his eyes was tangible._

_Confused, she opened her mouth to question. To ask what was wrong. But she never managed it. Damon's glass touched hers, as did his eyes._

"_A toast," he said solemnly. "To everything working out in the end. No matter how bad things get between then and now."_

Bonnie had been confused. But her trust in Damon was absolute. Yet another testament to how far her condition had gone.

She had drained the glass.

The glass in which Damon had earlier added the ingredients from the Grimoire recipe. The one that would cause Bonnie's powers to increase exponentially, totally beyond her control.

Twenty four hours later, Bonnie had blasted apart a shopping mall, unable to take control of her powers. With Damon compelling the police, Bonnie was found to be the cause. Handcuffed, strapped down, she was carted away to the asylum a few towns over.

Damon had fled before she'd even been admitted. Before Stefan and Elena had found out.

He hadn't been able to face them. But he had been able to face Bonnie. Once.

Looking now, into Bonnie's eyes, Damon remembered what she had said to him. More than anything, she hadn't understood why he would do this to her. She had been angry. She had hated him. But more than anything, she had been afraid. Her greatest fear had always been losing control of her powers. Damon had exposed that fear.

And now here he was, facing his.

Damon was dragged back into the present by Bonnie's voice. Once upon a time, her voice was an irresistible sound to him. Mixed with fire, ice and pure sex appeal, whether intentional or not. Now, the deadened tone was a mere shadow, a fleeting haunt of what had once been.

He had done that to her.

"Well, look at that. Seems that Damon Salvatore's guilt-free conscience isn't so guilt-free anymore."

Damon steeled himself, eyes cold.

"What do you want?"

Bonnie smiled, the expression devoid of any humor. "Nothing. You came through my door, remember?"

Damon's eyes darkened. "I can leave. You can't. So tell me what the hell the apparitions are for, or I'll just see myself out."

The first real sign of an emotion flitted across her features. She was surprised.

"Apparitions?" A moment. That smile was back. "You've seen me. Visions of me."

He remained silent.

"Before you ask, that's not my fault. Looks like your mind isn't as ready to let go of me as you try to pretend."

Damon didn't speak again, although his mind was turning over this new information. Bonnie hadn't sent her form as a message. That was his own mind, calling him back to her. His guilt, his bond with her manifesting through hallucinations. When Bonnie opened her mouth to speak again, Damon found himself desperately hoping she would have some sort of explanation for his subconscious.

What he got instead was much worse.

"It's coming back."

Damon's still blood ran cold.

Bonnie sensed this and smiled. This time, there was more emotion in it. A smirk. Their eyes met, yet she didn't waver under his gaze. Damon was chilled by the calm pleasure she was taking in the knowledge that Damon now had something to truly be afraid of.

"How long?"

Her smirk widened at the clipped, sharp tone of Damon's voice.

"A few weeks now," she answered easily. "It started coming back in bits and pieces. Flashes of visions. Heating of my skin. Projection, illusions. It gets stronger each day. And you know what that means…"

Damon did. It meant he should be afraid. Afraid of the cruel smile on her lips. Afraid of her thoughts. Afraid of her plans.

"I'll stop you."

_That _dropped the smile from her lips.

"What?" she asked, voice suddenly deathly cold. Damon's voice matched it.

"You try and escape, I'll stop you. Doesn't matter if the drugs aren't working anymore. Doesn't matter if you're strong enough to kill me."

Bonnie's fists clenched at his words.

"No matter what happens," Damon continued, "I will do whatever I have to do to prote…"

"Don't…" Bonnie hissed suddenly, viciously. "Don't say that you're protecting me."

He remained motionless, arms folded across his chest, eyes still. "All I'm saying is the truth."

"The truth?" Bonnie snapped. "The truth is you killed me. You killed me when you locked me in here. And I don't give a damn about your reasons, about your protecting me from myself crap!" She was beginning to shake violently in her building rage. "I don't care if you thought you were doing the right thing, stopping my powers from going overboard. What I did was my choice. If I wanted to die for Elena, you didn't have a right to interfere. You didn't have a right to take my life away from me!"

Despite her voice steadily growing louder, Damon didn't react. His own voice was perfectly even when he said "I did what I had to do. I couldn't stand by and watch you do that to yourself. And you can be angry with me all you want, you can hate me, want to kill me, but it doesn't change that I did it for you, because I lo…"

"SHUTUP!"

Damon saw the danger a moment before it happened.

It was a moment too late.

Regardless of his vampire abilities, the shockwave hit him before he could react. It had exploded from Bonnie's being, a white wash of pure energy that had lashed out from her rage. Blasting from her body, there was the harsh sound of splintering glass as it met the window in front of her. The barrier, designed for holding people in did not break, but large cracks tore through it, and while it did not shatter, Damon could see that another blast like that and it would collapse.

Freeing Bonnie.

Damon was thrown back against the wall, hitting the plaster hard. He felt his bones jarred by the impact and slid down the wall, his body in shock. The second it took his vampire healing to kick in and get him on his feet again would have been exactly the opportunity Bonnie would have been waiting for, had she had full use of her abilities.

But the medication was still in her system, and despite her abilities beginning to power through it, they could not get through the drug-induced barrier fully. That blast of energy had been all she'd had.

Inside the room, plaster was tumbling from the ceiling. Dust hung in the air, and in the distance, Damon could register the faint sounds of an alarm blaring through the corridors.

But his attention was all on Bonnie.

As his blue eyes found her again, her own gaze rose, shadowed by the long, limp hair that had fallen forward over her face. Her head had been hanging forward, her chest heaving from the exertion of her powers, but her stride was determined, furious, as she stormed towards the glass barrier, eyes murderously fixed on his.

Despite himself, he couldn't help but flinch as her fists slammed into the window.

Bonnie's face contorted with rage and murder, eyes glistening with hate.

"YOU DON'T LOVE ME!" Bonnie screamed, eyes wild, fists crashing against the glass with a shattering blow. "IF YOU LOVED ME YOU WOULDN'T HAVE DONE THIS TO ME! IF YOU LOVED ME, YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TAKEN MY LIFE AWAY FROM ME!"

Damon did not move, did not react. But Bonnie's every word tore through him, ripping apart the armor of falsities, denial and pain he had shrouded himself in every day since he had left her, anything to block out the real world, to stop himself from facing what he had done. Bonnie was too far gone to even realize what she was doing to him, and yet, in a sick way, Damon wanted her to continue. Because her every word was right. He deserved all of it.

Bonnie hurled herself at the glass again, her fists striking it brutally.

"WHY DID YOU COME BACK?" Bonnie howled, her voice laced with fury and agony. "DO YOU WANT TO TORTURE ME? WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE? YOU GOT WHAT YOU WANTED! SO WHY COME BACK DAMON? WHAT MORE CAN YOU POSSIBLY TAKE FROM ME? YOU TOOK MY POWERS! YOU TOOK MY LIFE! YOU TOOK EVERYTHING I EVER GAVE YOU! WHAT'S LEFT DAMON? WHAT ELSE IS THERE?"

Another crack appeared as Bonnie's fist met the barrier.

"JUST GET THE HELL OUT!"

A few chips of glass dropped to the carpet.

"I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO COME BACK!"

Damon's mouth opened, but no sound came out.

"I NEVER WANT YOU TO COME BACK!"

Bonnie threw herself against the glass, her shoulder smashing into the barrier.

"YOU'RE GOING TO DIE DAMON!"

Bonnie's hateful glare burned through his soul as she tore her own throat out with her screams.

"I SWEAR, SWEAR THAT I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"

She was seized from behind by two men in white uniforms who had rushed in, taking a hold of her arms despite her struggling to get back to the window, to Damon.

"YOUR BLOOD WILL BE ON MY HANDS AND MY NAME WILL BE ON YOUR LIPS WHEN I DRIVE A STAKE THROUGH YOUR SHADOW OF A HEART!"

She screamed as she was dragged away, the two men barely able to restrain the wildly thrashing witch as she was hauled through the doorway.

"YOU'RE DEAD DAMON! YOU HEAR ME? DEAD!"

**

* * *

Three months later…**

He had sworn to her. Despite everything, he had sworn he would get Bonnie out, once Klaus was gone. But Klaus was still loose. Elena was still in danger. So Bonnie was still locked away. And Damon was still on the run.

He threw back his fourth shot with a growl. Damon's eyes rose, catching something in the mirror above the bar.

A flash of brown hair.

A whisper of mocha skin.

A spark of green fire in emerald eyes.

Bonnie's apparition watched his reflection. His eyes darkened. Hers stayed the same.

"Go away," was Damon's only response.

When he looked back at the mirror, she was gone.

* * *

Damon couldn't see the future. Didn't know what would happen next. He didn't know whether the apparitions were still of his own making, or whether Bonnie had taken inspiration from them and was now projecting her form to his, haunting him, reminding him that her powers were getting stronger, and every day bringing her closer to ending his unending life. He didn't know if Bonnie would ever forgive him, ever love him again. Whether he could ever free her. Whether anything could ever be the same.

But his mind could plague him with visions of the witch all it wanted. Bonnie could send gloating messages as her powers grew, bringing her closer and closer to freedom. And he could plan, and he could hope with everything he had, that he would be able to free her and that she would forgive him, and that he would get his eternal love back from the edge.

But the future was nothing more than a vast mystery, even to the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

* * *

So, not exactly a happy ending, but as said in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, 'Happy endings are just stories that haven't finished yet.' Awesome movie, does anyone else think being an assassin who shoots herself out of the tops of buildings on jet-propelled grappling line things would be the coolest job ever? Review if you agree. Or you know, just review. x


	24. Revival

Sorry for the lack of update last week; just with work and stuff life kinda runs away from you. Anyways, I reckon this will be the last update at least until my exams are over (plus, without Vampire Diaries actually playing, and on ANOTHER hiatus, inspiration is lacking). But still, hope you enjoy this one anyway. Killerkaiser xx

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Vampire Diaries, but if I did, it wouldn't be on a break, Damon would hit Elena in the face, and shirtlessness would be mandatory for all scenes...

_Summary_: Bonnie Bennett is very much the same, yet very much different

* * *

"NO!"

The voices of Elena, Stefan, Caroline and Tyler all rang out at once. Damon, taken aback only momentarily, regarded the rest of his essentially adopted (though at most times unwanted) family.

"What?"

"You know what," Stefan told him sternly, making his way forward. "You'll only make it worse."

Damon snorted. "And you think she's gonna listen to you guys?"

"That doesn't matter Damon," Elena said as she moved to stand beside her vampire husband. "She's unstable enough as it is. You won't help her. You'll _encourage_ her."

Damon shot a mocking glance at Stefan's vampire wife. Even after all this time, she was still determined to get on his back about _everything_. Damon shot her the same look he had been shooting her for the last half a decade, the one that looked to placate her without actually doing anything of the sort.

"Damon," Caroline cut in, looking to him talk down, already knowing it was a useless pursuit. "After everything that happened… you don't wanna get involved. Half the reason she managed to escape was…"

"Are you still maintaining that this was _my _fault?" Damon was starting to get pissed now.

Tyler stepped forward to defend his mate. "That's not what she's saying," he told Damon hurriedly. "But you can't deny that her going overboard may not have happened if…"

"If what?" Damon rounded on the wolf now. "If I wasn't around? If we hadn't been together? If I hadn't _encouraged _her?"

Stefan stepped forward, in a futile attempt to calm his brother. "No one is saying that Damon," the younger Salvatore said, his voice frustratingly calm. "We know that you were trying to help. But after she got those powers, she was unstable. And I know you were trying to protect her, wanted to believe her condition was simply because of her new strength, but it was because you wouldn't let us intervene that she lost control. We had no choice but to lock her up."

Damon was on Stefan in less than a second. Stefan slammed into the wall, denting it as Damon's hand tightened around his brother's throat. Elena made to dash to his side and pull Damon off, but Caroline held her back, catching her arm and giving a warning shake of her head. Damon leaned in, his face moving towards his brother's, eyes venomous.

"Choice? I told you that we could help her, that whatever was wrong, we could fix. And I told you that putting her in a cage would make things worse. But you didn't listen to me. So her escaping, anything she's done, anyone's she's hurt, has been because you weren't there when she needed us, because you didn't trust my judgment."

"Damon…" Stefan's voice was weak, strained. "We did what we had to. She was a danger to everyone around her, including you. Trust me, none of us wanted to do that to her. But you weren't making her better, you were making her worse!"

"ENOUGH!"

Caroline took a hold of Damon's shoulder, pulling him off of his brother. Damon didn't move forward again, but after shooting one more dark look at Stefan, he made for the door.

"Where are going?" Elena asked him, voice tinged with worry and tiredness.

"To talk to Bonnie. Better she kills me than you guys, right?"

* * *

Bonnie Bennett strolled through the Lockwood manor perfectly at ease. A few minutes before, she had plucked a flute of champagne from a passing tray, ignoring the appreciative look of the waiter as she had done so. Now, she made her way weaving fluidly through the crowds, catching the eyes of attractive admirers every now and again, but never gifting them with more than a suggestive smile and semi-interested appraisal.

All except one admirer.

But then, Damon Salvatore had always been an exception to the rule.

The moment the vampire had caught sight of her, he'd made his way over. Bonnie of course had led him on a merry chase, moving amongst the crowd so that he had to shove his way past people to catch up to her.

He looked good, she had to admit. But then he always had. Damon still possessed the same flawless beauty he had on the day that she had broken out of the Salvatore basement and left Mystic Falls in the dead of night. Same high cheekbones, ebony hair, eyes that cut sharper than diamond and shone just as bright. After so long, his stunning features still had the same effect on Bonnie as they always had.

But it was different this time. She was different.

She was no longer some naïve little witch at the beck and call of vampires. Bonnie had changed when Jonas had died and she'd absorbed his abilities. Stefan and Elena had regarded it as insanity. She had regarded it as power.

Bonnie had hoped that Damon would have been on her side. That more than anyone, he would have understood. And Bonnie had believed that he had, and yet, they had locked her away and Damon had done nothing. Bonnie had accepted that she couldn't count on him any longer, no matter what was going on between them, and had abandoned Damon soon after, just like he had abandoned her.

But Damon hadn't got away with it then. And he wasn't going to get away with it now.

Bonnie smirked and, plucking a grape from a tray on the table, took a bite. As her teeth grazed its flesh, Bonnie threw Damon her now-trademark suggestive smile at the vampire and, diving back into the crowd, knew that Damon would follow.

* * *

Damon's sharp eyes had followed the movements of the witch as she had moved through the crowd with unnatural ease. Even after so long, she was still the same in every way, and yet so very different, not that that made sense. She still had the same natural swing to her hips, a permanent hint of a smile playing across her lips, glowing fire in her green eyes. But there was a malicious edge to her smile now, and her walk, while before it had been alluring unintentionally, now moved as if it knew exactly what it was doing to the immediate male population.

There was no question, she was out to kill. Dressed in black jeans that were practically painted onto her legs, boots and jacket, both leather, eyes outlined with kohl, hair tumbling down over her shoulders: Bonnie Bennett was hell on the most enticing pair of legs Damon had ever seen.

But no matter what the witch was doing to him right now, Damon steeled himself to stay on task. Knowing that she was playing with him right now, Damon broke away and moved through a set of doors to his left. Circling around to another set of doors, he was rewarded when he found himself stepping out in front of Bonnie, who regarded him with a pleased smile, as if she had known all along that he would bring himself before her.

"Hey Damon."

Ignoring the thrill in his veins at the sound of her voice, Damon, figuring that impersonality was his best defense right now, gave her a pleasantly cold smile and said "What are you doing here Bonnie?"

The way Bonnie was looking at him made him think that she had completely forgotten who it was she was dealing with. "It's a Lockwood luncheon. The whole town's invited."

He'd been wrong. She knew exactly who it was she was dealing with, a fact made clear by the playful undertone in her voice. Not wasting any time on being pulled in by her excruciating familiarity, Damon asked her, with forced patience "What are you doing back in Mystic Falls?"

Bonnie took a carless sip of champagne, in between the coy comment of "I take it if I said I missed you, you wouldn't believe me?"

Damon allowed a smile at the total lack of innocence in her question, and took a step towards her. Bonnie's head tilted instinctively up towards his, and Damon resisted the urge to close the distance any further. He opted instead for another fake smile and an indulgent "Now Bonnie… why would I believe anything you say?"

The speed at which Bonnie's expression shifted was a testament, and a warning, to the change in her. Her smile, all pretense of civility, was gone from her features. Her expression darkened, and her next words were flat, edged with hostility.

"You want the truth Damon? I came home. You remember that right?" She took another step towards him, face darkening with a challenge. "That Mystic Falls was my home, before you forced me out of it."

Damon sensed the gathering storm and his eyes darted around the crowded room. There were too many people, and while generally this wouldn't have bothered Damon in the slightest, one of the conditions of speaking with Bonnie alone was that no one got hurt. And with the charge coming off of the witch right now, she was going to get them both screwed over.

Damon didn't even try to fake another grin and in one fast movement took a hold of Bonnie's arm.

"Why don't we take this outside?"

His grip was tight, and yet Bonnie didn't seem to be bothered at all. She regarded the pale fingers bruising her arm unconcernedly and didn't say a word. Damon took that as an affirmation and dragged the witch out into the grounds, pushing aside the thoughts of the danger he might be about to put himself in.

* * *

Damon let Bonnie go, none too roughly, and she turned to him, arms folded across her chest.

"Couldn't wait to get me alone, huh?" The mischievous tone to her voice had returned.

Damon crossed his own arms, mimicking her. "What do you want, Bonnie?"

"I told you. To come home."

Damon was lucky for over a century of practice at keeping his face and tone devoid of any emotion. "You can't."

It was a testament to how in-tune they still were that Damon saw the slight shadow cross over Bonnie's face.

"I don't really think that's your choice anymore."

But it was also a reminder that this wasn't the same witch that had left Mystic Falls five years ago, when Damon was unprepared for her next move.

The tree that they had been standing under on the grassy hillside suddenly gave a crack as Damon was slammed against it. Bonnie had moved faster than humanly possible, her hand curling around his throat and Damon was totally powerless against her. His hand reached up to claw at the fingers around his neck, but Bonnie's other hand twisted his wrist painfully. Hand clasped uselessly around her forearm, Damon only just managed to choke out "You're a…"

"Vampire?" Bonnie grinned and Damon finally recognized the predatory expression. "Same old story," she said in a careless tone, eyes giving off a feral glint. "Met a guy down south. Vampire with a thing for witches." Bonnie's grin widened. "Kinda like you," she said with a laugh. "Although, couldn't compare to Damon Salvatore. I mean…" Her eyebrow rose, a motion he recognized as his own, and his unbeating heart hummed in response to her seductive "who can?" Bonnie gave him another smile, accompanied by a shrug. "It was easy enough to get his blood. To die. And then… un-die."

Struggling for words, Damon pushed through the haze surrounding him, hearing words fall from his lips that he couldn't make sense of.

"How are you stronger than me?"

Bonnie laughed again, and the sadistic nature of it brought Damon a sudden, unwanted memory of Katherine. And yet, it was so much worse with Bonnie, because he was actually afraid of what she might do.

"You may have a century and a half on me," she told him, her expression alluringly cruel "But I'm a Bennett witch. Not to mention having absorbed the powers of Jonas, who was much stronger than we ever gave him credit for. And now add a little vampire to the mix…"

Damon understood the implication in that sentence. With that kind of power, he was in over his head here. Her next words reinforced this point.

"And check this out…" Bonnie brought her hand up in front of his face, showing him long, slender fingers that at one time had been so familiar to him. "No ring."

It was true. The sun was shining down through the trees, hitting Bonnie's skin and yet she was totally unharmed. Considering that so far as Damon knew there had never been a vampire-witch, this obviously her powers working some sort of voodoo on her vampire form, protecting her.

"That's a nice little trick…" was all he was managed to bite out, before her hand tightened again, cutting off Damon's airway and letting him know that she was going to answer.

"Not quite sure how it works but it has its advantages. For instance, while I'm always protected, you…" Her eyes wandered down to his own hand, where his ring was occupying its permanent place. "All I need to do is pull this trinket off and…" Damon stiffened as her fingers glided over the ring's surface. But then she drew her hand away and told him cheerfully "But you're just so handsome, and I don't think sun burnt would be a good look for you. Although…"

Her eyes moved up towards Damon's again, but by the time they had reached him, they were different once more. Dark. Angry. "Its more than you deserve, after what you did to me."

"Bonnie…"

"Did you feel guilty Damon?" Bonnie hissed, hand tightening to an even more bruising grip around his throat. "Or did you just try to distract yourself? Move on? Tell me…" Bonnie drew her face in close, eyes blazing. "How long did it take? For you to get back the line of girls at your bed. Did you think of me? When you were with them?" Bonnie's voice dropped lower, her lips coming to hover over Damon's, but there was no affection in the action, only a burning need to put him through the torment he had subjected her to. "Every kiss… were you thinking about me?" Her tone was cold, her smile even more so. "I know I was thinking about you. A lot." A slight chuckle slipped past her lips, but Damon could see no humor dancing behind her eyes. Only malice and pain. "Do you remember it Damon? What it was like? You and me? What it felt like?"

It happened so fast that Damon couldn't stop the noise that escaped him as Bonnie's hand suddenly came up to his chest. Where his v-necked shirt exposed his torso, Bonnie's nails dug into the flesh, ripping through the skin, creating five lines of blood across his collarbone. Damon gritted his teeth against the pain, and when Bonnie brought her lips down towards the wound, his head fell backwards as he fought for control. He felt Bonnie's tongue strike against the trails of blood and when her head rose, her face moving towards his again, Damon could see the blood on her lips. They hovered, tantalizingly close over his, the smell of blood swirling in his senses. And yet, Damon resisted, gritting his teeth, his eyes blazing with fury as Bonnie's lips titled in a sadistic smile.

For a moment, Damon thought she was going to kiss him.

For a moment, Damon wanted her to.

But then, Damon was suddenly slumped against the tree, and Bonnie was sashaying back towards the Lockwood estate. A brief stab of fury struck Damon, and he almost took after her. But Bonnie seemed totally unconcerned, gifting him only with a careless wave that was directed at no one in particular, no more than a toss of her hand.

"Tell Stefan and Elena I'll be stopping by soon," she called to him.

He thought again, just for a moment, of going after her. But then Bonnie turned to him and, walking backwards, blew a mocking kiss. She gave him a smile, the same smile he had worn himself so many times… and then she was strolling back towards the Lockwood manor, and Damon was clutching his chest, and his whole world had just gone to shit.

Because Bonnie Bennett was now playing by a completely new set of rules in the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

* * *

So there you go. I will try and get back to updating as soon as I can, but I will actually have to write some first. Still, thanks to all my readers, as always. And I like to think that by this time I don't need to drop any sly hints about reviewing or anything... ;)


	25. Awakening

Guess who's back? I know I said I wasn't gonna update with my exams starting on May 3rd, but after watching the new Vampire Diaries episode today, I just had to re-write the ending, so this is a special one-off. Because it just would have worked so perfectly with the episode and been exactly the springboard for a DamonxBonnie relationship. So, even though the writers just can't get it right, I think I have here. This is the result I was hoping for, hope you guys enjoy. Killerkaiser xx

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Vampire Diaries, but the amount of ideas I come up with for it, I may as well. But don't worry, exams finish on May 23rd and then I'll be able to devote more time to a hostile takeover...

_Summary_: So yes, they lied. But there was only one real way to save Bonnie's life

* * *

"Knock knock."

At the sound of Damon's voice, Bonnie turned from the candles she had been tending to and looked towards the entrance of her new home. Damon was half-leaning into the room, one hand curled around the wooden door, eyes catching the glint of the fire that burned from the many candles within the chamber.

In an unfamiliar reaction to Damon's presence, Bonnie smiled.

"Hey."

Damon took this as permission to enter and moved into the room, closing the door behind him. From his shoulder he shrugged off the black duffel bag he had been carrying, allowing it to drop to the floor as he carelessly asked Bonnie "How are you feeling?"

Bonnie, who had grown used to the increasingly frequent displays of caring Damon had been showing that night, shrugged.

"Considering I just died, I feel okay."

Damon, who had been looking around the room, let out of slight chuckle before asking "Is it weird that I can say I know how you feel?"

Despite herself, her situation and her company, Bonnie laughed too. "Yeah, not exactly something you should be able to relate to."

But at least Bonnie was okay. Earlier that night, Bonnie had taken on Klaus. While the rest of the school enjoyed the 60's dance, Bonnie had used her magic to try and kill Alaric, who was being possessed by the Original. Klaus had vanished, injured thanks to Bonnie, but she had collapsed due to the exertion from her powers. Elena and Stefan, who she had locked outside so that they didn't interfere, came charging in, desperately searching for a pulse. Upon finding no signs of life, despite Elena's hysterics, Damon had managed to pull Bonnie away from her and carry her out. With Elena back at the Boarding House, believing her best friend to be dead, Damon had brought Bonnie back to their hiding place and left her to awaken. After revealing to Elena that Bonnie was in fact alive, and now their secret weapon that Klaus believed to be dead, Damon had returned to make sure that she had woken from the dead, as the two of them had planned.

The two faded into silence as the moment between them passed, before Damon kicked the duffel bag at his feet and said "I uh, stopped by your house on the way over. Picked you up some stuff, since you're gonna be stuck here until we're ready to let Klaus in on our little secret."

This act did surprise Bonnie, who would have pegged Damon as the last person on Earth to do something that could be considered kind for her. She could only look at him for a moment, but instead of questioning him, she simply gave a curious smile and told him "Thanks."

Damon shrugged it off as he told her "I just grabbed you some clothes, make-up, all that crap. Your underwear draw is _fascinating_ by the way."

Despite Damon's smirk and suggestive eyes, Bonnie did not respond. It was few moments later that she finally said what she'd been waiting to.

"Did they believe you?"

Bonnie wasn't looking at Damon; she was flicking her fingers through the flame of the candle before her, as if she could catch it. Despite her lack of attention, Damon's response was cheerful, knowing that she was referring to the story that Damon had told Elena and Stefan about Bonnie casting a spell to protect herself from the effects of the witches' powers.

"Yep. As far as everyone else is concerned, you are absolutely fine."

Bonnie turned, and found Damon right in front of her, eyes piercing.

"This little secret is just between you and me."

Bonnie's head dropped down slightly, but she was unable to hold back the slight chuckle that escaped her. Damon, who was watching curiously, met her gaze when her head rose so she could look at him and say "Who would have thought I'd be living a double life with Damon Salvatore?"

Damon grinned.

"Least of all me, I can tell you."

Their eyes held for a moment, cerulean blue and emerald green, and then Bonnie was moving past him to retrieve the bag from the floor. Damon turned towards her as she shrugged the bag onto her shoulder and asked "So how are they?"

Damon, not needing an explanation, asked lightly as Bonnie threw the bag onto a nearby chair "You mean Elena?" He shrugged carelessly. "She's okay. Mad at me, and you, for not telling her. But as long as you're okay, she'll get over it."

If Bonnie was surprised by the totally uncaring way in which he spoke about the Gilbert girl, she didn't say anything. Instead she asked Damon, folding her arms across her chest, "And you're sure they won't be able to tell?"

Another shrug, one shoulder, pulling a face. "I don't see how." Damon was standing in front of her again. "So long as you and I can keep it under wraps, we'll have at least until Klaus is out of the way. If they've found out by that point, we'll just have to deal with it then."

Bonnie nodded absentmindedly, before Damon caught her attention again by asking "How are your powers?"

It was Bonnie's turn to shrug as she turned and walked over to take a seat on the edge of the wooden platform they were on. "Coming back, bit by bit. I think they're still adjusting to the change."

There was a slight movement, and then Damon was settling down next to her on the edge of the platform.

"So long as they're coming back."

There was a moment's silence before Bonnie looked sideways at the vampire next to her and asked "Do you think they'll be stronger now?"

"I don't know," Damon answered truthfully. "This has never happened to a witch so I don't know what the side effects are."

Bonnie looked thoughtful for a moment, nodding, before sighing and saying "Well… I guess we'll find out soon enough."

"And in the meantime, we'll just have to keep this quiet."

Despite her agreement, Bonnie didn't look up at Damon. In fact, her eyes stayed decidedly on the floor, which was why Damon was surprised when she spoke again.

"Thank you Damon."

Even Damon, ever the master of duplicity, was unable to hide his surprise. He gave the witch a look as she continued, seemingly not noticing (or not caring).

"For what you're doing." Incredibly, the witch looked slightly embarrassed. "I can't help but feel sorta like a burden."

In response to her honest sentiment, Damon snorted. "Hey, I've been a burden on all of you long enough, someone was bound to return the favor eventually. Besides, I guess it's about time I took responsibility for someone other than myself."

Regardless of his careless attitude, Bonnie still shrugged slightly and, meeting his gaze, told him "Well, still. Thanks."

It was now that Damon looked at her. Really looked at her. And it was now that Damon realized that the woman before him was nothing like the pathetic girl he'd almost killed all those months ago on the night Emily destroyed the crystal. Bonnie was truly a part of the supernatural world now, strong and determined, and ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for the person she cared about more than anyone. Even more than herself.

His eyes, held by hers for some reason he couldn't understand, bound perhaps by a new understanding and respect for the witch, pulled away from her gaze, which he suddenly couldn't meet. He said "No problem" and rose swiftly to his feet. Suddenly, his feeling of admiration for the Bennett witch and whatever sense of connection was pulling him towards her felt wrong. Strange. Different. And wonderful.

Damon started towards the door.

However, he only got halfway there before he remembered something and drew to a halt. Bonnie had already risen from her place on the step, but turned at the sound of his voice.

"Before I forget… you'll be wanting this."

Bonnie caught the bag easily, and at the sight of the label ripped it open. Leaning her head back she tipped the contents greedily down her throat. As her eyes opened again, meeting Damon's who were carefully on her, Bonnie wiped away the traces around her mouth with the back of her hand. This time, Damon didn't look away from her eyes, but held them instead. The eyes that showed how he had really brought her back after she had died in her battle against Klaus. The eyes no spell could create. Because no spell would have saved her.

Bonnie's black eyes, ringed with black veins.

Eyes that complimented her extended fangs.

There's nothing like a bag of O-Negative to give you an entirely different perspective on the Simply Complicated Art of Enjoying Enjoyment.

* * *

And there you have it. How I think the episode should have ended. But hey, at least that dance between Bonnie and Damon in the episode was hot as hell right?


End file.
